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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25209748">The Dungeon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahri_Hime/pseuds/Ahri_Hime'>Ahri_Hime</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Fantasy, Swords and magic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:06:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25209748</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahri_Hime/pseuds/Ahri_Hime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the center of the capital of Lyre there lies what has become known as the dungeon.  Many enter it to seek riches and glory, and many never return from its depths.  For the dungeon has many dangers and monsters lurking within.  Destiny has led you there.  What fate now awaits you?</p><p>----<br/>A fantasy Haikyuu reader insert.  AKA;  ReaderxVarious/reverse harem with hot sword/bow/magic wielding boys.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akaashi Keiji/Reader, Bokuto Koutarou/Reader, Goshiki Tsutomu/Reader, Hinata Shouyou/Reader, Kageyama Tobio/Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader, Oikawa Tooru/Reader, Semi Eita/Reader, Tendou Satori/Reader, Ushijima Wakatoshi/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>256</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello all!</p><p>I have been thinking about doing a fantasy story for a while.  After seeing the Haikyuu Quest pictures I couldn't get it out of my head!  I, admittedly, read another fantastic fantasy like Haikyuu fic that inspired me to finally start writing my own.</p><p>It may start off slow but I have a lot of world building to do.  Or rather... dungeon building?</p><p>Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>  <i><br/>
In the center of the capital of Lyre there lies what has come to be known as “the dungeon”.  No<br/>
one knows how it came to be nor why it exists in the first place.  All everyone knows is that it has existed since written language had been formed. </i></p>
  <p>
    <i>People who travel into the dungeon have come to be known as adventurers.  Adventurers, skilled in combat or magic have only one goal within the dungeon- to seek out and destroy the monsters that lie within.  The monsters, vast in number and variety hold within them something almost as valuable as life itself.  Rare magical stones exist at their core.  The stones, a mystery even thousands of years after their first discovery are what make life possible today.</i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i>They can be used as power, to generate light and heat in the winter.  There are some that can cure disease and elongate the human lifespan.  Some say that there is even a stone that lies at the very last floor of the dungeon that can bring back the dead.</i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i>Many people enter the dungeon to seek riches and glory… and there are many people who never return from it.</i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i>For while the dungeon is teeming with life, it is also a place where many lives end.</i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i>In the dungeon, anything can happen. </i>
  </p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Kingdom of Lyre</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some epic world building we got going on here.  Let me know your thoughts!  I'm really excited to get started on this project!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Heed my words, for I am your master, burn all in my path.  Le feu!”</p><p>A thick pillar of fire rose from the ground, engulfing a group of nearby goblins.  Their screeches bounced off of the stone walls as they ran around, clawing desperately at their burning flesh.  The smell wasn’t terribly pleasant, but fire was quite efficient in dealing with them in large numbers.</p><p>It only took a few moments for the fire to wipe out the mob, their bodies disappearing in a poof of black ash.</p><p>“Ugh.”  Crouching down, you pinched a dull green stone between your fingers as you inspected it.  “These are so tiny.”</p><p>“What did you expect?  We’re only on floor four.  Even novice adventurers can take on the monsters that dwell here with relative ease.”</p><p>With a little ‘hmph’, you turned to glare over your shoulder at your companion.  He rose an eyebrow challengingly as he twirled a bow aimlessly between his fingers.  “You could always take me down into the lower floors.  We both know I’m more than capable of at <i> least </i> taking on floor eight monsters.”</p><p>“Maybe if I wouldn’t die a gruesome, terrible, public shaming death if they found out I did that… I’d consider it.  But even then I’d probably say no.”</p><p>“Tobio, you’re so mean to me.”</p><p>“I didn’t have to take you down here in the first place!  Geez, I do something nice on my day off and all I do is get guilt tripped.  I thought princesses were taught manners?  Maybe you missed those lessons?”  Kageyama Tobio was a good friend of yours since childhood.  It was rare the two of you hung out, but whenever you did you incessantly nagged him until he took you down into the dungeon.</p><p>With a little hum, an indication you were ignoring his blatant jab at you, you began to crawl around on the floor to gather all the stones.  They were small and probably would only net you a silver piece or two.  Utterly disappointing.</p><p>Kageyama flicked his wrist, turning the arrow downwards so he could easily slide it into his quiver on his back.  “We really should be heading back soon.  The gathering of the guilds is probably going to end soon.  Do you really want <i> another </i> scolding from your father when you aren’t in the castle?”</p><p>“Not particularly, no.”  You stood up, satisfied you’d collected all of the magical stones from your kills.  “Let’s stop by the square first, I’m hungry.”</p><p>The dark haired male gave you a side eye before letting out a sigh.  You merely giggled as the two of you made your way back towards the corridor that led to the upper floors.  Reaching behind you, you gently tugged your hood over your head as some voices echoed nearby.  Kageyama ignored them as they passed by, while you dipped your head down so they couldn’t see your face.</p><p>After all, as the Princess of Lyre, you reeaaally weren’t supposed to be down in the dungeon.</p><p>You didn’t dislike being a princess.  It had its drawbacks, sure, but overall you loved your parents and your country.  Lyre was a peaceful Kingdom, the epicenter of its trade based around the dungeon.  People from all over the continent would come to the capital, Esteria, to enter the dungeon.</p><p>Adventuring was a dangerous, yet very honorable profession.  In order to keep new adventurers from ending their lives prematurely, floors eight and below were restricted to adventurers who belonged to guilds.</p><p>Speaking of which…</p><p>“I heard you guys beat the floor twenty boss faster than any other guild.”  You reached over to flick his bronze crow sigil pinned to his chest.  “Are you hoping your guild rises to silver standing during the gathering?”</p><p>“Maybe,” Kageyama shrugged as he ushered you up the steps.  “Hinata picked a fight with a member of the Shiratorizawa Guild.  Their best swordsman, of course.  We all got roped into it along with him.  It was a miracle we beat their floor clear time record.”</p><p>Defeating certain floor bosses gave guilds the potential of ranking up to higher tiers.  While the tiers only meant they could venture further down in the dungeon… it was mainly a lot about bragging rights, honestly.  The Guilds were all very competitive with one another.</p><p>“Are you talking about the guy they nicknamed the… ah, what was it?”  Putting your hand under your chin you tried to recall what you’d heard about Shiratorizawa’s strongest guild member.  “Master of Steel?”</p><p>From your peripheral vision you saw him narrow his eyes at the title before he gave a nod.  “Yeah, guy is unbeatable at swordsmanship, apparently.  One of the strongest in all the Kingdom.  Not only swordsmanship but he’s proficient at almost any weapon made of steel.  And yet, <i> and yet </i>, that idiot Hinata had to go out of his way to put us on their radar.”</p><p>Your shoulders shook a little as you bit back a snicker.  You had only met Hinata a handful of times but when you had crossed paths you’d been ever so amused.  The ginger sure had a lot of energy for a new adventurer.  “I’m sure it’s fine.  It’s all in good fun.  After all, every guild has the same goal.”</p><p>The reason guilds were formed in the first place was to gather groups of strong adventurers to unite in a common goal- to reach the bottom floor of the dungeon.  According to the texts passed down to them from thousands of years ago, there were one hundred floors.  The ancient legend said that on the last floor, the boss dropped a stone that could bring someone back from the dead.  It was a childstale, really, but the goal remained unchanged.  After all, nothing could quell natural curiosity.  What was on the bottom floor?</p><p>However, the past hundred years hadn’t made much progression.  They still had only mapped out and conquered about half the floors.  Only the strongest guilds were allowed into the deep levels, for the monsters lurking there had slain even some of the best and most skilled.</p><p>“Excuse us,” Kageyama’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts, his hand reaching back to grab yours as you both navigated through the sea of people trying to enter the dungeon.</p><p>“Square,” You reminded him lightly as you both stepped out into the afternoon air.  “But first, let’s turn these in.”  Reaching down to your side you pulled out your little pouch, shaking it back and forth as the stones inside knocked against one another.  </p><p>He gave you an irritated look but nonetheless started off towards the Hall.  The Hall was directly across from the entrance to the dungeon, a common ground for all guilds.  There were quests posted for various things such as drop items or stones, or perhaps people even looking for new party members.  It was also where you could turn in your magic stones for coin.</p><p>The Hall was crowded when you both arrived.  There were adventurers from all over the continent, probably there to try out for a guild or back after an expedition in the dungeon.  It was a happy place, full of laughter and loud shouts.  A few people cast glances towards you and you trailed behind Kageyama, his hand still holding onto yours.</p><p>“Ah Kageyama!”  The stone exchanger leaned over the counter, giving him a smile.  Her long ears twitched in excitement and she tilted her head back and forth.  “I saw Tanaka and Noya in here just a while ago.  Were you out with them as well?”</p><p>“No, I was with-” Kageyama paused thoughtfully before jerking his head back towards you.  “Her.”</p><p>“Ohhhh,” the elf girl looked towards you and you turned your head away.  “Well, anyway.  What can I do for you?”</p><p>The bag of stones was pried from your fingers and then turned upside down, the pale green stones falling onto the counter with a little ‘ploink’.</p><p>“Let’s see… for this quality and rarity and amount… I can give you one silver and six coppers.”  The stones were scooped off of the counter before being replaced by the coins.  “Here you are!  Be safe on your next adventure.  Glory to Lyre.”</p><p>“Glory to Lyre,” Kageyama echoed back, snatching the coins off of the counter before tugging you away from the counter as the next adventurer in line stepped up.  “Alright, now that you’ve got your coin, though I highly doubt you need it, we can go to the square.  But, and I repeat myself, but after that we are headed back to the castle.”</p><p>Perking up, you gave him a nod.  “Promise!  I just want to get one of those meat skewers they have.  Ohhh and maybe a crepe.  They’re particularly good around this time.  It’s strawberry season you know?”</p><p>The square, though it wasn’t even in the shape of a square, was where the majority of the shops were located.  Rows of booths with food and colorful merchandise lined the street, children and adults alike milled about as they browsed the wares.  It was one of the more populated areas of the city, the Hall and the Dungeon being the other two.</p><p>The smell of the food assaulted your nose as soon as you were within eyesight and you perked up, tugging Kageyama towards a particularly tasty looking booth.  Skewers of fish and raw meat were displayed, pots of sauce and spices lining the table in front of the grill.  The boothkeeper looked up, wiping his hands on his apron before giving a friendly grin.  “What can I get for ya?”</p><p>Was one of everything an okay answer?  Probably not.</p><p>“Two meat skewers.  And I’d like mine with…” you glanced down, assessing your options before pointing at a particularly delicious looking sauce.  “That, please.  And whatever my grumpy friend here wants as well.”</p><p>“H-hey!”  Kageyama lamely defended himself as the boothkeeper laughed.  Giving you a scowl, to which you laughed right along with the boothkeeper, he picked out his sauce of choice as well.  “Why do I ever do nice things for you?  I’ll never know.”</p><p>“Neither will I.”  It was not a few moments later that the boothkeep handed over the two skewers, the steam wafting off of them making your mouth water.  “Thanks!”</p><p>It really was a wonder that Kageyama could look angry while he ate, but he somehow managed.  Though his expression changed from annoyance back to its usually neutral like expression as he was placated by the food.  “It’s good.”</p><p>“Isn’t it?  I find the food out in the square to be much more pleasant than the stuff cooked in the castle.  It’s delicious, don’t get me wrong, but you can only eat so much of it before you go insane.”  Taking a bite of your own skewer you let out a little noise of delight, a hand reaching up to cup your cheek.  “If only my company was more pleasant.”</p><p>Another laugh erupted from your lips as you were shoved sideways a little, though not enough to make you tip over.</p><p>Kageyama was one of the few people who treated you like a normal human being.  While, yes, he did treat you somewhat better because of your lineage, he didn’t treat you like a porcelain doll like many others did.  It was annoying to say the least.  You wanted to be an adventurer and explore the dungeon, to go on your very own adventure.  You knew magic and while your sword skills were lacking… you could still hold your own!</p><p>The dungeon was such a mystery, existing for thousands of years but so many places still unexplored.  It was hard <i> not </i> to be fascinated by it.  What lie at floor one hundred?  What if there were more floors?  What other types of stones could exist?  There were so many unanswered questions.</p><p>Biting down on the last chunk of meat, you chewed it thoughtfully before swallowing.  “Much as I’d like to try and trick you into doing more things with me, a promise is a promise.  Back to the castle I go.  I’m sure you’re eager to return to your guild hall to see if you all have been promoted.”</p><p>The faintest hint of a smile graced his lips before he shrugged.  “I can’t say I’m not curious.  When it happens it happens….but I would like to go down into the lower floors.  I’ve heard some of the drops there can be made into good bows.”</p><p>Sometimes you forgot about how good of an archer Kageyama was.  He was, apparently, one of the most impressive archers to ever come out of the adventuring academy.  When you were younger you loved to sit and watch his arrows fly through the air, embedding themselves into their intended target.  They were usually dead center and if they were off he’d make you pretend you didn’t see it and do it again until it was perfect. </p><p>The walk back to the castle was pleasant, the guards giving you an expasterd look as soon as they caught sight of your mischievous smile as you approached the gate.</p><p>“Princess, again?  Really?  Again?”</p><p>Giving Kageyema a friendly wave goodbye, you headed through the gates, “See you later Tobio!”</p><p>One of the guards fell into step next to you, “Princess, you know you can’t keep just… running off like this.  While Lyre is a peaceful country there are still people who would take the chance to do terrible things to you if they could.”</p><p>He was indirectly referencing the other countries that surrounded Lyre, many without dungeons of their own.</p><p>Lyre was one of only three kingdoms who possessed a dungeon.  Though some of the other countries treated their dungeon very differently.  While Lyre embraced the exploration and thrived off of the stones that came with it, the other two feared the monsters within.</p><p>There was a reason that Lyre was the most populated and propsoprious of the kingdoms on the northern continent.</p><p>“No one knows what I look like.  So I highly doubt that would happen.”  Putting a finger under your eyelid you pulled it down, sticking your tongue out at him childishly.  The look you received was incredulous and you couldn’t help but snort.  You swiftly made your escape from the guard, changing out of your adventuring outfit and into a dress befitting of royalty.  It felt stifling.</p><p>Rather than go out and pretend to be social, you instead spent the rest of the afternoon in your room.  You were too old for lessons by this point and as a legal adult there wasn’t much your advisors could do to make you listen.  After all, one day you would be their queen and they didn’t want to get on your bad side.</p><p>“The king and queen are back from the guild meeting,” a voice called through your door, the sound of footsteps indicating the person's departure.</p><p>The castle of Lyre was large and beautiful.  Crystals from the lower floors were molded into the ceiling, generating light when charged with magic.  When night fell on the kingdom, the entire castle lit up until it was time for the occupants to retire.</p><p>Though the sun was setting, casting a soft orange glow in the corridors, the lights still twinkled overhead as you made your way into the dining hall.  When you were younger and you couldn’t sleep you used to infuse the ones in your room with magic, making the ceiling dance in twinkling lights.</p><p>“Mother,” you greeted as you entered the room, tipping your head down in respect.  “Father.”</p><p>“[Y/N].”  Your shoulders tensed at the tone of voice and you slowly pivoted around to pull your chair out, avoiding their gazes.  “A little birdie told me that you were in the dungeon again.”</p><p>Bringing your hand up you bit down lightly on your thumb.  Curse that guard and his inability to take one for the team.</p><p>“A-ah, yeah.  But just the upper floors.  I took a guild member with me as well so-” you were cut off as a figure collided with you, nose pressed into your cheek as they sobbed.  Your father was a very benevolent ruler but… he was also a huge pain when it was just the family around.</p><p>“But darling!”  His grip tightened as he rocked the two of you back and forth, the chair making a scraping noise as the attending staff looked away (in shame?).  “What if the monsters got to you!  What if an attractive adventurer tried to steal your heart!  You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been asked why you haven’t been shown off to the kingdom.  I always have to say it’s because you’re sickly but it’s really because I know if people know what you look like I’ll have to build a fortress to keep them all out!”</p><p>“Dear,” your mother pressed her finger tips to her lips, laughing lightly.  “One day she will get married.  Just like you and I did.  And… if I recall <i> we </i> met in the dungeon when you snuck away from the castle.”</p><p>“Honey!”  The wails of your father had you smiling, both in adoration and amusement.</p><p>As the only child, you were kept very safe from the outside world.  It wasn’t that they were ashamed of you.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  During the time of your birth a rivaling kingdom had tried to take Lyre over for its dungeon.  Fearing that they might bring harm to you, your birth was kept secret within the castle walls.</p><p>Which turned out to be a terrible idea as your father had let it slip years later about his adorable daughter during one of the guild gatherings.  Apparently he’d panicked and said you’d just been born, making the lie even worse at that point.  So, to the kingdom, you were a sickly ten year old girl.  </p><p>Your father just…. Didn’t want to suck it up and admit to his guild buddies he’d been lying all those years.  That and now that you were no longer a little girl… he feared for your chastity.</p><p>Hey!  He was a red blooded adventurer once!  He knew how they thought!</p><p>“Dear,” your mother called, beckoning him to her side.  With a sniff he let you go, sitting down beside her as he pathetically stabbed at his plate.  “Why don’t you tell her about the gathering?  I’m sure she’d be interested to know.”</p><p>“Oh.”  The attitude turn around could almost give a person whiplash.  “It was splendid.  The Karasuno Guild ranked up from bronze to silver.  You’re friends with someone in there, aren’t you?  Really wild adventurers.  I used to be good friends with their old guild master.  Too bad he took an arrow to the knee.  His grandson recently took over.  They’re really starting to shine.  And then of course the Shiratorizawa Guild…” he put a hand under his chin before smiling deviously, “I gave them platinum rank!  The first guild to reach that rank in… oh, what did I find out… fifty or so years?  All part of my plan!”</p><p>“Plan?”  That sounded suspicious.  Your father, while a wonderful ruler in his own right, could be a pretty strange guy.</p><p>“Yes!”  The boisterous laughter he emitted made you even more suspicious and you narrowed your eyes.  “I call it, the Dungeon Quest!”</p><p>“Dungeon… quest…” </p><p>“Members from the top guilds are going to party up and go on an expedition to…” he paused for dramatic effect before raising his fork, “the seventy fifth floor!  To where no adventurer has gone before!  I wanted to go as well but your mother said no…”</p><p>“What?”  Excitement immediately coursed through you.  That was so much unmapped territory.  So many places to explore.  What kind of stones would they bring back?  What kind of rare drops?  Could you put in for a quest to bring you back a magical companion?  They were the rarest of drops and bound to the adventurer who got the kill typically… but maybe on the lower floors it was different?”  “When?”</p><p>“In a month.  We want to let the guilds prepare and pick their strongest.  It’s all rather exciting.”  He was practically radiating excitement, his nearly matching the same level as your own.</p><p>The rest of dinner was spent gushing over the dungeon, your mother looking on fondly as you and your father talked about all the possibilities.  It was only when the lights on the ceiling started to dim that she announced it was time to retire, nearly dragging him away as he fawned over her.</p><p>They were really wonderful people.  You loved them dearly.</p><p>Flopping onto your plush bed, the comforter made from the wool of the woolies of the thirteenth floor, you stared up at the ceiling as the lights flickered above.  Apparently the twenty fifth floor had a ceiling that always looked like something similar, though it was much more beautiful.</p><p>The dungeon, while deadly, also had some very beautiful places.  Or so you were told.  There were some floors that were dubbed as safe zones, a sanctuary for both adventurers and friendly monsters alike.  The twenty fifth floor was one such floor.</p><p>Letting out a sigh you closed your eyes, twisting beneath your blanket to try and get comfortable. </p><p>You didn’t hate being a princess, really.  You just wished you could go on grand adventures as well.  It sometimes felt like you were destined to go into the dungeon.  Like it was calling to you.  Like the dungeon was waiting for you.</p><p>
  <i> The dungeon wanted you. </i>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Le feu: a magic spell which causes flames to appear in the desired space where the caster is pointing.  Useful for generating heat and starting a fire.  Can be used in combat against low level monsters.  Mana cost is low, but sustaining the spell for long periods of time can drain the user.  Should not be used when there are a lot of flammable things nearby.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Adventurers Motto</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Let’s see…” poking your tongue out you scrawled on the parchment paper, doodling at the top when you were done.  Written in your loopy handwriting were the words, ‘Quest to the ninth floor!!!  Please bring back six bundles of zavafruit.’  At the top was a poorly drawn picture of a zavafruit.</p><p>The dungeon didn’t particularly follow any sort of seasonal pattern.  So zavafruit, a blue tangy fruit kept fresh in a layer of ice, grew all year round.  It was one of your favorite things to come out of the dungeon besides the wool the woolies provided.</p><p>When you were younger you used to beg your attendant to post quests for it, as the blue fruit turned your tongue a lovely shade of purple- you used to think it was just the best thing.  It had been a while since you craved it.  But when you woke up that morning you just had an insatiable need.</p><p>“Hmm…” tapping the tip of your quill on the paper you contemplated writing something else.  After all, there were tons of quests posted in the Hall.  How to make yours stand out?  The ninth floor wasn’t particularly challenging, from what you’d heard, but it was beyond the eighth which meant only adventurers belonging to a guild could go there.</p><p>Most guild members liked to take quests that netted them a lot of money such as drop quests.  Farming quests were usually left to novice adventurers in the upper floors.</p><p>With no other ideas, you doodled a woolie with a heart above its head beside the zavafruit.  Maybe to try and convey how much you loved the taste?  It looked cute and unassuming, maybe the quest would be accepted by a guild member thinking a child was requesting it.  Hehe, perfect.  Maybe they wouldn’t even charge you!</p><p>Heading up to the counter you set the paper down, about to speak to the guild association member when someone's finger landed on the tip of your request.  It began to slowly move backwards, sliding the request from you.  You turned to watch in mild amusement as the perpetrator successfully took your request right out from under you.</p><p>“Zavafruit?”  His strikingly unique eyes landed on you as he tilted his head to the side.  “What do you want to do with it?”</p><p>“Eat it,” you stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What else do people do with it?”</p><p>A grin broke out on his face and he laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners.  “I suppose you got me there.  Let’s see here… you aren’t wanting to come too?  Usually people request this as more of an escort than farming.  If you’d like, I can take you along?”</p><p>The man before you seemed friendly enough, but you still looked at him skeptically.  He was tall, though his straight up spiky hair probably added to that.  His hair looked naturally black at the roots but the tips were a white color.  His rusted gold eyes looked almost predatory with his pupils being longer than most.  He almost reminded you of an owl.  Though, perhaps the resemblance was subconsciously being projected because of the sigil on his chest.</p><p>An owl, the sigil of the guild Fukurodani.</p><p>You narrowed your eyes while his grin only seemed to get wider.  “Why would you, a guild member in a gold guild, take the time out of your day to escort me to the ninth floor.  Isn’t that like, boring or something?  I’m sure there are tons of other quests that would net you more profit too.” </p><p>“Simple.”  He waved his hand, dismissively, “Because of the adventurers motto.”</p><p>“The… what?”</p><p>“The adventurers motto.  Surely you’ve heard of it?  Whaaat?  You haven’t?”  He looked like he was having way too much fun.  “Well, I’ll let you in on it.”</p><p>The man leaned in towards you, his face far too close to your own.  You could see his pupils dilate as he stared intently at you, one hand slowly coming down to rest on your shoulder.  You shuffled back a little but it seemed to be in vain when he only leaned in closer.</p><p>“When a pretty lady has a quest, you accept.”</p><p>“What.”  Perhaps you shouldn’t have forgotten your hooded cape today.  Was this guy a pervert or something? </p><p>“You heard what I said!”  The Fukurodani guild member stood straight up, one fist over his chest as he belted it out again.  “When a pretty lady has a quest, you accept!  Every adventurer knows this to be true!  It’s falling in love in a dungeon one oh one.  Obviously.  You accept a quest from a pretty girl, take her down in the dungeon and then- oh no!  Monsters are attacking!  You fend them off and then heroically sweep the girl into your arms while whispering, ‘I’ll always protect you’.  Then bam!  Fall in love and stuff.”</p><p>“Are… are you joking?”  You weren’t sure if he was kidding or if he was serious.  The corners of your lips twitched into an incredulous smile as he blinked, turning to look at you with an almost hurt expression.  “You… aren't, are you?”  </p><p>“Of course not.  It’s a thing.  Maybe not for female adventurers but if that’s their thing I ain’t one to judge.  I just know that when I see a pretty lady requesting help, I feel inclined to answer.  One of my better qualities I’m told.”</p><p>You were about to speak when another figure almost materialized beside him.  “One of your only good qualities, Bokuto.”</p><p>“A-Akaaaaashi, that’s rude!  All I’m trying to do is help a pretty lady out.  You can’t fault me for that!”  The man, Bokuto, whined.  “Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong.  It’s a quest only guild members can accept anyways.  I’m not stealing from the noobs.”</p><p>“I’m sorry about him.”  The dark haired male turned towards you, bowing slightly.  “My name is Akaashi Keji and this is Bokuto Koutarou.  We’re both from the guild Fukurodani.  From what I’ve gathered, Bokuto here is trying to accept your quest.  Though probably in some incredibly childish manner.”</p><p>Bokuto stepped back, hands in front of him as his mouth opened in faux shock.  “Akaashi!  You’re making me out to be some- some fiend!”</p><p>“Well, you are.”  A tiny smirk fell on his lips before his dark eyes fell on you once more.  For the briefest of moments something flickered in his gaze before disappearing entirely.  “Regardless, since he seems dead set on it, if you’d allow it, please allow us to accept your quest.  We’re in a party with two others as well.  I’m sure they wouldn’t mind joining.”</p><p>There was a part of you that was screaming at you to say no.  Of course you shouldn’t go deep down in the dungeon with people you hardly knew.  You were the princess of the land, the true born ruler next in line to take the throne.  You were the only heir, the only rightful successor.  Yeeeet…. “Sure!”</p><p>It was only the ninth floor… and with two adventurers from a gold guild there was probably nothing that could go wrong.  Plus they said there would be two others?  Really, it was a golden opportunity.  Once the expedition to the lower floors started there would be less guild members around to go on quests and Tobio wouldn’t be around to take you down.</p><p>While Bokuto was kind of shady, with his big ass grin and his owl like eyes boring into your very soul, Akaashi seemed very trustworthy.  Plus your father had spoken very highly of Fukurodani.  That and you probably wouldn’t run into Tobio who might tattle on you..</p><p>“Alright,” Akaashi turned towards the guild counter with your request form, speaking to the association member about accepting.  After a moment he turned back towards you, giving you a nod.  “If you’re ready, we can go gather our two party members and head off?”</p><p>When you went out and about in town you always wore your adventurer outfit.  You… always wanted to be prepared!  In case such things ever happened.  Heh.  “That sounds good.  Are you sure it’s alright if I come?  I don’t want to slow you down.”</p><p>Bokuto shook his head, slinging an arm around your shoulder.  “Of course, you won’t slow us down.  The ninth floor is like, easy peasy.  It’s going to be fun.  Besides, our other buddy wanted to go to the eighth floor to try and get a drop from the slimes there.  Something about using it in an elixir or something.  We weren’t doing anything exciting today anyway.”</p><p>The pair, Bokuto’s arm still slung around you, led you out of the Hall and towards the entrance of the dungeon.</p><p>Slung on Akaashi’s back was an impressive looking bow along with a full quiver of arrows.  He had an assortment of other weapons, but from the rarity and craftsmanship of the bow it seemed like he was mainly an archer.  Bokuto on the other hand didn’t seem to have a weapon on him besides a medium sized dagger in its sheath attached to his belt on his lower back.  If you had to take a guess… he was probably a short ranged fighter.</p><p>“Yo!”  A voice called out, grabbing your self appointed escorts attention.  “What do we have here?”</p><p>“We’re taking this little lady on a quest!”  Bokuto raised a hand out in front of him, just in time to catch a short sword tossed at him.  “Figured we might as well do something productive today since Kenma needs to farm his elixir stuff anyway.”</p><p>As the other two people came into view, you were able to get a better look at them.  One had spiky black hair and a long red coat on.  He was wearing white gloves with a black outfit.  He didn’t have any weapons but a few vials were attached to his hip, or at least what you’d caught a glimpse of.  His cattish like smirk was disconcerting, but he wasn’t looking at you with it.  Instead, he was looking at a shorter male.  That one had blonde hair… or rather black with blonde tips?  He seemed annoyed, his lips pulled into a grimace as he leaned against a wooden staff.</p><p>“I don’t know why I have to come.  Why can’t you guys just go get it?  It’s easy.”  The blonde one mumbled, shying away as the taller one began to pat him on the head rather roughly.  “And now Bokuto has made it even more involved.”</p><p>“Kenma, you’re such a downer.  Come’on, don’t you want to level your stats up?  You’ll never progress anywhere in life with that kind of attitude.”  The taller one suddenly turned towards you, giving you a quick assessment before sticking his hand out.  “Hey, welcome to the party.  I’m Kuroo Tetsuro and my annoyed companion is Kozume Kenma. We’re both from the Nekoma guild but party up with Bokuto because he won’t shut up until we do.”</p><p>The Nekoma guild?  You took his hand, giving it a little shake while giving him your own name.  The Neokma guild was known not for its fighters but for its mages.  It was one of the few guilds that possessed more mages than fighters, and by a lot as well.  They were highly skilled in various forms of high level magic.  A lot of them didn’t even have to do the chant before casting a spell.</p><p>As a connoisseur of magic, it was exciting to be in a party with them.</p><p>“Hold up a sec,” you turned as Bokuto’s voice caught your attention.  He was affixing all sorts of tools and weapons to his body, having seemingly left them with his party members when he’d gone to the Hall.  “I need to call Aroein.”</p><p>You watched silently as he twisted a small dagger around in his hand before skillfully sliding it up his sleeve.  He seemed to have a lot of rogue attributes.  Perhaps he had a lot of skill in stealth and speed?</p><p>Bokuto brought two fingers up to his lips pressing down on them before making a strangely high pitched whistle.  It wavered in its pitches a few times, clearly some sort of special call.  After a few moments, to your utter amazement, a snowy while owl familiar landed on his shoulder.  It turned its head back and forth, ruffling its feathers before it’s golden gaze landed on you.  Was it terrible it reminded you of someone?</p><p>“No way, you have a familiar?”  Those drops were incredibly rare.  So much so that an adventurer could go three or four lifetimes without getting a single drop.  And even then some of the drops came as eggs and if they weren’t attended to properly, they would never hatch.</p><p>“Yup!  This is Aroein.  Took me like three straight weeks of defeating one of the floor twenty four bosses.  I think it was my… uh, maybe somewhere in the three hundred and fifty range of runs when this little sucker finally dropped?  Either way I’d told myself I was going to get one if it was the last thing I did.”  He reached up to gently rub his finger below the owls chin.  “He’s real friendly, unless he’s hungry.  Then he bites.  Usually just me though.”</p><p>“Bokuto is an idiot.  But he also has stupidly good luck.”  Akaashi leaned over, a hand on the side of his mouth as if he was pretending to tell you a secret but making zero effort to keep his voice down.  “If he ever makes you uncomfortable feel free to stab him.”</p><p>“Hey!”  The look Bokuto was giving you almost made you feel bad for laughing.  <i> Almost </i>.</p><p>“Should we get going?  Lets go ahead and bypass the first seven floors.  There are a ton of noobs here today.”  Kuroo gestured towards the guild members entrance, somewhere you’d never been before.</p><p>The dungeon had a pretty confusing layout.  From what you’d seen and heard, the first seven floors were easy to access.  It was almost like accessing different floors in a house.  There was one long staircase you could go up and down with a landing and an entrance to each floor.  Floors eight through nineteen were similar, though instead of immediately finding the staircase down, you had to actually go through part of the floor to access the staircase.  One of the reasons it was restricted to members of a guild.</p><p>Floor twenty had a raid boss, one that had to be defeated in order to pass on to the other floors.  The respawn time was about a week, so weaker guilds sometimes benefitted and trailed after a stronger guild to bypass it.</p><p>The floors after twenty, for the most part, were like their own worlds entirely.  If you didn’t have a map on where to go, you could get lost for weeks wandering around.  It was one of the reasons large expeditions or campaigns were formed when exploring new territory.  Like the one your father was putting together.  The more highly skilled adventures there were, the better chances of survival.</p><p>“I had no idea there was something like this here.”  The guild members entrance had a strange platform that moved between the surface and floor eight using a large purple crystal harvested from a floor boss.  It was a strange sensation to be moving up and down weightlessly.  Peeking over the side you shrunk back as the sudden feeling of vertigo hit you.</p><p>“First time huh?”  You looked up at Kuroo as he spoke, his expression mischievous.  “So, how did Bokuto end up roping you into letting him accept your quest?  More often than not he comes back rubbing his head from getting smacked.”</p><p>You gave a side glance to the man in question, covering your mouth to hide your laugh at his miffed expression.  “Something about the adventurers motto?”</p><p>Kuroo put a hand under his chin with a sophisticated nod, “Ah yes.  But which one did he get you with?  Was it the ‘don’t fucking die’ or maybe ‘don’t steal other peoples drops’?.  No, neither of those seem particularly applicable.  Could it be… <i> that </i> motto?”</p><p>The two males shared a look before Bokuto grinned, “Hell yeah.  That motto.  It’s way better than the hundreds of others we have.” </p><p>Your lips twitched in an incredulous smile.  These adventurers were quite strange, weren’t they?  So very different from Kageyama and Hinata.  Though, you supposed, Hinata seemed more similar than Kageyama.  “S-so, there’s more than one motto?”</p><p>“Of course,” Kuroo grinned, hopping off a few feet before it came to a stop.  “We adventures have tons of mottos for tons of stuff.  Makes it more fun ya know?  There’s one we named after Bokuto too.  It’s the ‘never jam a stick up a minotaurs a-”</p><p>“Kuroo.”  Akaashi turned his gaze on the male, eyes narrowing slightly.  Kuroo gave him an apologetic smile before shrugging.  “Sorry, they aren’t used to being around ladies.  You’ll have to forgive them.”</p><p>Shaking your head you chuckled, “No, no I don’t mind at all. It’s funny.  I’m happy to be accompanying you down-” you cut yourself off as you passed the threshhold and onto the eighth floor.  “... here.”</p><p>It was unlike the other floors you had been on.  You’d read stories and heard descriptions of the floors beyond the seventh, sure, but it was another matter being there yourself.  It was like an entirely new world.</p><p>The landscape was barren, completely gray and void of any color.  The trees, though you could hardly call them that, were gray and ashy- seemingly cracked and dead.  Kuroos bright red coat stood out in the strange landscape, swishing as he walked.</p><p>“It takes a little getting used to.  Not all floors are like this too.”  Akaashi was kind enough to hang back as you took in your surroundings.  “This one is one of the less exciting floors, in my opinion.”</p><p>Squinting, you tilted your head up to look at what seemed to be a blazing blue sun.  It cast an almost eerie glow on the entire floor, though it didn’t provide nearly as much sun as the one on the surface did.  “It’s… odd.”  You now realized why there was the guild member rule when going beyond floor seven.  It was unlike anything you’d ever seen before.</p><p>“Don’t worry, they may be fools but they are capable fools.  The two floors we’re going to aren’t exactly challenging for us.”  Akaashi pointed ahead to where Kuroo was casually calling down ice shards to skewer monsters as they tried to spawn from the ground.  “You’re safe with us.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> «────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────» </p>
</div>The ninth floor was different from the eighth.  Instead of a gray, colorless landscape it was more like a winter wonderland than anything else.  The trees looked like they were made of glass, shimmering as snowflakes fell from an endless sky.<p>“Sorry, we should have told you to bring a cloak.”  A heavy cloak fell on your shoulders and you tilted your head back to see Bokuto staring down at you.  “I was just too excited and forgot.”</p><p>Seeing Bokuto fighting had changed your opinion on him.  On the floor above he’d easily taken out hordes of large white slimes that emerged from the ground.  He seemed to like two identical short swords, dual wielding them with such accuracy you almost couldn’t believe he was the same guy you’d met on the surface.  His expression had changed from… honestly kind of goofy to sharp and confident.  There was even a point where it seemed like he’d turned in slow motion, a flash of white and black as he grinned while taking down an enemy.</p><p>The party had only spent about two hours on the floor above.  Akaashi had sat you on a low hanging branch, leaning beside the tree as he guarded you.  You mostly spoke about his guild, the upcoming dungeon exploration, and he told you about some of their adventures.  Kenma had snuck over at one point to hide from doing work, but Kuroo had dragged him back fairly quickly.</p><p>They were really fun.</p><p>“We usually just pass through this floor without ever really doing anything.”  Kuroo reached up to pluck a zavafruit from a tree, tucking it in a bag.  You’d offered to hold them but he’d enchanted a bag to stay cool so the fruit was fresh once they left the floor.  “I forgot that zavafruit was even a thing.”</p><p>“It’s kind of tangy and sour.”  Bokuto had cracked the ice shell encasing the fruit, biting down into it as the blue liquid seeped out and down onto the ground.  “But it’s unique.  I wonder what it most closely resembles on the surface.”</p><p>“Woah-” you scrambled to catch a fruit Kuroo tossed at you, the ice shell already gone.  “Thank you.”</p><p>The fruit itself was small, probably the same size as a plum.  Once the ice shell was cracked off, you could feel tiny fuzz on it.  There were no seeds, so you weren’t sure how they grew.  Not that it was possible to grow them on the surface anyway.  Still, another mystery of the dungeon you supposed.</p><p>Taking a bite out of the fruit you let out a hum of delight.  Kageyama had brought you back some a few months ago, but it had been quite a while since you’d had it.  It tasted even better when you were craving it.</p><p>You were just about to take a bite when the ground began to shake.  You paused, looking up as the ground a few yards in front of you began to bubble and rise.  Was that normal?  Judging by the way Akaashi shifted towards you, you assumed not.</p><p>“What’s happening?”  You didn’t feel scared, no, instead you felt excited.  It was like you were on a real adventure.  Granted, you wouldn’t engage in any combat but… it was still exhilarating.</p><p>“Dunno,” Bokuto tossed the fruit over his shoulder, the blue juice leaving a little trail in the white snow as it rolled to a stop.  “But whatever it is, I hope it drops something good.”</p><p>Kenma seemed less than anxious, instead coming to stand beside you.  Kuroo and Bokuto were standing in front, the first line of defense.  Akaashi was at your side, his bow still secure on his back.  It seemed like he wasn’t too worried about anything, but still chose to be beside you in case anything went wrong.</p><p>The ground shook a little more before splitting.  Out of the split rose a strange, almost wispy looking creature.  It looked like an elk, made of snow, with a white sheen of snow and mist swirling around it, obscuring its body from view.</p><p>“No way, rare spawn?”  Bokuto was practically jumping up and down like a frog as he waited for it to fully spawn.  “Hell yeah!  See, it was so worth coming down here with her.  She’s our lucky charm!”</p><p>Kuroo snapped his fingers, muttering something under his breath before a brilliant and hot twister of fire swirled beside him.  “Most damage gets the drop.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Bokuto leaned forward a little, hunching over as he prepared to strike.  “Eat my dust magic boy.”</p><p>Watching Bokuto and Kuroo fight the rare spawn was… it was almost beautiful, really.  The two seemed to be in sync, without ever communicating.  Kuroo would send in fire, causing the beast to rear up to try and escape and Bokuto would fly in to inflict physical damage to it.  It was almost like a dance, in its own way.</p><p>It was over before you knew it, the beast poofing away in a white and glittering explosion of snow.  Covering your eyes as the snow was whipped towards you, you squinted as you tried to see what Bokuto got.  He was beside you before you had time to blink, proudly holding out to you.</p><p>“We’re only on floor nine so it isn’t anything crazy.  But you might like it.”  Between his fingers was a glittering blue stone, the same color as the zavafruit.  He motioned for you to hold out your hand, depositing the stone into it once you had.  “You can have it.”</p><p>“It’s a sapphire.”  Sapphires weren’t the rarest of stones, but they weren’t terribly common either.  They held no magic properties so most people only kept them for show.  It was still lovely though.</p><p>“Yup!  Big guy didn’t take much damage from physical attacks so Kuroo over there got the real drop.  I doubt you’d use it though.”  He ruffled the back of his hair, grinning as he rolled the stone around in your hand.</p><p>“But why?  You could sell it and get money.”  Gazing up at him you tilted your head in confusion.  You’d only just met him and he was giving you gifts and taking you on adventures.</p><p>“I already told you!  Because of the motto!”  He slung an arm around your shoulder again, hunching over to your height.  “Gotta woo a girl to make her fall in love with me right?”</p><p>“Hey now!”  Kuroo was rejoining the group, a shining white horn in his right hand.  “Since when were you mister charming?  Didn’t you know it’s rude to try and woo a lady in a dungeon?”</p><p>“Bokuto is about as charming as a dying minotaur,” Kenma commented dryly, bundled up in his coat with his face barely peeking out.  “Can we go back yet?”</p><p>“I’m-” Akaashi winced as Kuroo and Bokuto jokingly went at it, debating on the best way to woo a girl.  He managed to detach you from Bokuto, shaking his head in dismay at them.  “Sorry.”</p><p>“It’s fine,” you clenched the sapphire in your hand, your cheeks warm from delight and from the cold.  With a little laugh you smiled, tilting your head to the side.  “This is really fun!”</p><p>Akaashi looked at you for a moment before he smiled gently, reaching out to brush a snowflake from your cheek.  “We should get you back before you catch a cold.”</p><p>“Akaaaaashiiii!”   You yelped as you were suddenly lifted up in someone’s arms.  Turning your head you came face to face with a pouting Bokuto.  Aroein sat on his head, looking down at you owlishly.  “Stop trying to charm her.  It’s not faaaaaair.”</p><p>“Heh.”  You turned your head away, covering your mouth with your fist as you laughed.  While they were skilled adventurers, they were also incredibly dorky.  You were glad you’d gone along with them.  </p><p>Bokuto blinked before breaking out into a grin, “So… fallen in love with me yet?”</p><p>“Bokuto!”</p><p>“What!  It doesn’t hurt to ask!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>zavafruit; a blue tangy fruit only found on the ninth floor of the dungeon.  The fruit is encased in ice and is best eaten right after the ice is cracked open.</p><p>More dungeon building~!  I hope you like it!  Please leave a comment with any thoughts or leave a kudo if you liked it! c:</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Shiratorizawa and the Master of Steel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Why is he here?  He’s supposed to be with the guild master...”</p>
<p>“Umm,” you cocked your head to the side, confusion scrawled across your face.  “Excuse me… but, are you alright?”</p>
<p>Standing off to the side of the Hall doors, peeking inside, was what you assumed to be an adventurer.  He was staring at someone inside, muttering under his breath.  While you didn’t typically go out of your way to engage in conversation… he was sort of blocking you.</p>
<p>“Umm, hello?”  Reaching out you gently tapped his shoulder, trying to garner his attention.</p>
<p>At the contact he jumped, spinning around to stare at you with wide eyes.  A brilliant white cape fluttered from his motion, a regal purple color catching your attention as it settled.  A white cape with a purple underside… Shiratorizawa?  The platinum colored sigil with the outline of a hawk affirmed your suspicions and you stared at him. </p>
<p>His face was flushed, probably from embarrassment, his dark eyes scanning your face quickly.  He was wearing the uniform of Shiratorizawa Guild members, Shiratorizawa being one of the only guilds who required its members to dress similarly.  They honestly looked like military uniforms, the white with purple accents looking regal.</p>
<p>They looked better than your royal guards, were you being honest with yourself.</p>
<p>“Hello…” he cleared his throat, straightening up once he seemed to come to the realization that you were indeed addressing him.  “How can I help you?”</p>
<p>“Ah…” you trailed off, looking away from him briefly before making eye contact.  “You’re… ah, in the way.”</p>
<p>His expression changed from intrigued to embarrassed and then to flustered all in about the span of two seconds.  You couldn’t help but laugh as he scrambled back, bowing his head deeply as he sputtered out an, “I-I’m so sorry!”</p>
<p>He didn’t seem to be much older than you, his straight black bangs framing his rather round and now very embarrassed face.  Was he really a member of Shiratorizawa?  You had heard that membership to that guild was really hard to get and they only took the adventurers with highest stats and skills.</p>
<p>“That’s alright.”  Tilting your body slightly, you looked inside.  “What were you looking at?”</p>
<p>The male raised his head, watching as you looked inside then towards him and then back again.  It took him another moment to gather his bearings before he spoke.  “Another guild member.”</p>
<p>“That doesn’t help me,” you glanced at him with a grin, motioning him over.  “Who, specifically?  Is it someone you like?”</p>
<p>You didn’t think his face could take on a more embarrassed expression, but it was apparently possible.</p>
<p>“W-what!  No, certainly not!  I-I was just-!”  He waved his hands out in front of him, trying to choke out some sort of coherent sentence.  You waited patiently, raising an eyebrow as you watched someone over his shoulder literally stop mid step before hustling over to where the two of you were.</p>
<p>“Is this a looooove confession Goshiki~?!”</p>
<p>The guy, bless his soul, seemed to turn even redder as he sputtered more incoherent words.</p>
<p>“Oh my my.  What a cute girlfriend you’ve got.  Where have you been hiding her?”  The newcomer, a red head with a devious grin, was dressed in the same white and purple cape as the sputtering guy.  Their clothes and armor underneath differed slightly, but still had the white and purple theme going on.  Another Shiratorizawa member.</p>
<p>The redhead waggled his eyebrows, reaching out to touch a lock of your hair.  He was rather handsy wasn’t he?</p>
<p>“Good afternoon.”  Inclining your head a little you shifted back, surprisingly not all that unused to the boldness.  After meeting Bokuto, you had sadly gotten used to strange first meetings.</p>
<p>“Did you accept his confession of love?  If not, perhaps I’ll give you one of my own.”  His dark red eyes held a hint of teasing, but also something else.  You couldn’t quite pinpoint it…  It was like he was analyzing you from the inside out.  “Just kidding!  I wouldn’t want to steal little Goshiki’s lover away.” </p>
<p>“I- what- no- I-It’s not like that!”  The dark haired male reached out and attempted to shove the taller male away, but his efforts went unrewarded.  “I just met her okay?”</p>
<p>“Suuuuuuure, whatever you say.  Hehe.  I don’t believe you because your face is about the same color as a tomato, but I suppose it can’t be helped.  You never were really good with dealing with females.”  Red orbs fell on you again.  “A pleasure.  If he truly hasn’t met you until just now, I suppose I should introduce us.  It’s rude not to.  My name is Tendou Satori and the blushing mess here is Goshiki Tsutomu.  We both hail from the Shiratorizawa Guild.”</p>
<p>They both put a hand over their chest before bowing slightly.  Woah, okay, that was atypical of adventurers.  That behavior was much more typical of your royal guard.  Perhaps this is why your father gave them the platinum status?</p>
<p>Feeling inclined to respond in kind, you bent your knees a little in an awkward half curtsy.  “A-ah, pleasure is all mine.  My name is [Name].”</p>
<p>Tendou straightened back up, narrowing his eyes slightly.  “So if it wasn’t a love confession, boo- boring, what were you two doing standing in the entrance?”</p>
<p>You made eye contact with Goshiki before quickly deciding to take over before he tried to speak again.  Really, it would be much easier that way.  “I was on my way inside to see if a friend was here when... “ you paused before glancing away, “he was blocking the entrance and I couldn’t go inside.” </p>
<p>Tendou blinked once, then twice before he burst out laughing.  For someone in such an impressive guild, he was kind of weird.  “Oh my goodness,” slapping his knee, he brought his other hand up to wipe under his eye.  “Goshiki I don’t know if you’re lucky or unlucky.”</p>
<p>“W-what’s that supposed to mean?!”</p>
<p>“If you don’t understand what I’m saying, then you’re too young to understand.”  Tendou crossed his arms over his chest, jerking his head towards the entrance of the Hall.  “Anyway, what business did you have in there?  Anything I can help you with since my little DPS was standing in your way?”</p>
<p>DPS?  Damage per second...  It was a surprise to find out that someone as easily embarrassed as Goshiki was out there on the front lines.  Especially with the way he was shoving and trying to smack Tendou, who easily dodged by swaying from side to side.</p>
<p>“Well.”  What were you doing there?  Truthfully, you had been looking for Bokuto and his friends.  After your adventure in the dungeon you’d been sneaking out every day to spend time with them when you could.  After all, Akaashi had informed you that all four of them had been selected to join the expedition that was coming up.  A lot of adventures who went on expeditions…and they also never came back.</p>
<p>You had every reason to believe they would, of course, they were very talented from what little combat you’d seen.  But the dungeon had claimed many lives belonging to talented adventurers before and it would probably always continue to do so.</p>
<p>“I was just coming to look for some friends of mine.  But it seems like they aren’t here.”  It was always a crap shoot if you’d see them or not.  They had their own lives and guild duties to perform.  While you considered them friends, they didn’t owe anything to you.  That and you always arrived at random times when you’d managed to slip from the ever watchful eyes of the palace guards.  “What about you two?”</p>
<p>Talking to people you didn’t know always fascinated you.  They probably thought it was annoying but most of the time people humored you.  You <i> did </i> have high stats in charm and charisma, a passive from being born into the royal family.</p>
<p>“We’re in town because our guild master came to meet with some other masters.  If you haven’t heard, an expedition is coming up.”  Tendou waved a hand in front of himself lazily, “We’d usually be in the dungeon but he gave us the day off.  Stat farming is really tiring but when we’re not there it’s like we don’t know what to do with ourselves.” </p>
<p>Goshiki gave a couple of stiff nods, his eyes drifting from you to the door then back again.  There was clearly another reason he was there but-</p>
<p>“And Goshiki is here because he’s following around Ushiwaka.”</p>
<p>“W-what!  No!  I- what?!”</p>
<p>Tendou began to sway from side to side again, his two index fingers pointed upwards and moving to a rhythm as he hummed, “You can’t lie to me you know.”</p>
<p>“I- I was not following Ushijima!” </p>
<p>Ushiwaka?  Ushijima?  You assumed they were the same person judging by the similarities to the name buuuut-</p>
<p>“He’s another member of our guild.  You might know him better as the Master of Steel.  Such an uncool nickname.  They should have asked me for help.  Don’t you think Super Swordsman of Shiratorizawa sounds way better?”</p>
<p>“I suppose it does,” an amused smile curled on your lips as you turned to Tendou who beamed when you agreed with him.  He was sort of an odd one, but he seemed harmless enough.  “If you two are part of Shiratorizawa, are you also going on the expedition?|</p>
<p>Goshiki suddenly seemed to recover from his embarrassment as he nodded vigorously, “Of course!  As the highest ranking guild, it is our duty to lead the expedition.  Most of our members will be going, including our weapon smiths and cooks.  They are much more used to traveling in the dungeon for long periods of time than the other guilds.”  He seemed to puff out his chest a little, “I’ll have you know I’m our second best DPS behind Ushijima.”</p>
<p>“What was that about me?”</p>
<p>You had felt his presence before you heard him.  It was similar to the feeling of danger, when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you are too scared to turn around.  The feeling of an overwhelming power that you are hopeless to stop.  But you weren’t scared, instead, you were rather intrigued on how someone could have such a commanding presence without even being seen.  It was no wonder he was widely considered the top adventurer in this era. </p>
<p>“Yo, done with the old man already?”  Tendou gave him a little mock salute, ignoring the panicked Goshiki fidgeting beside him.  “[Name], this is Ushijima Wakatoshi.  Ushijima Wakatoshi, [Name].”</p>
<p>A moment later a rather tall and imposing figure came into your view.  He was… much larger than most others you’d met.  He wasn’t scary, though, he looked more neutral than anything else.  He gave you a little bow of his head and you returned the gesture.</p>
<p>“Hello.”  He was also wearing the Shiratorizawa garb, but unlike the other two, he had an impressive array of weapons equipped to him.  Two long swords were strapped on his back, both hilts sticking up over his right shoulder, his left covered by his cape.  It seemed like everywhere you looked there was some sort of dagger or weapon attached to him.  It was like he was a walking armory.</p>
<p>“H-hi!”  You greeted back, cursing yourself for the slight falter in your words.  Okay, so maybe you were a tiny bit intimidated.</p>
<p>“I was just about to invite her over for tea as an apology for Goshiki keeping her from her friends.  Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?  We aren’t doing anything today anyway, and the other guilds will be jealous when they see it.”</p>
<p>At Tendou’s suggestion, it seemed like all three of you turned in sync to look at him.  You and Goshiki were confused, while Ushijima seemed… well, he didn’t seem like anything. </p>
<p>“What?”  You were the first to speak.  Guild homes were usually restricted to guild members only.  You had asked Tobio to show you Karasuno;s, but he’d immediately rejected the idea.  The thought of getting invited to the top guilds home was… enticing to say the least.</p>
<p>“I feel like that’s a bad idea,” Goshiki muttered quietly, glancing over his shoulder towards the Hall.</p>
<p>“But Tendou will do as he pleases, even if that may be the case.”  Ushijima shuffled around a little bit before he started walking down the steps.  “Let us be off then.”</p>
<p>Y-you hadn’t even accepted!  But nonetheless followed after Goshiki and Tendou as they turned to leave as well.  It seemed like even if you said no Tendou would somehow convince you into saying yes.  Not that you’d pass up the chance to creep on Shiratorizawa’s house-!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> «────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»  </p>
</div>House had been an understatement.  A big understatement.  It was more like a castle than anything else.  How had you missed something like this?  You supposed it was quite far away from your home, in the guild district you never visited.  Cough, that Tobio never took you to, cough.<p>“W-woah.”  You paused in your step, craning your neck up to look at the impressive structure.  It was a lot bigger than the houses of other guilds you’d passed.  Though it made sense, they were the top guild in the entire Kingdom of Lyre.</p>
<p>“Welcome to our humble abode, my lady.  We don’t often have guests, so excuse the mess.”  Tendou pushed the heavy double doors to the entrance open with a little flourish of his cape, revealing an immaculate entry way and receiving area.</p>
<p>What part of that was messy?  It didn’t seem like there was a single dust spec anywhere in the entire building.  Shiratorizawa was weird.</p>
<p>“Would you like a tour?  Have you ever been to a guild’s home before?  Do you have any questions?”  Tendou seemed like he was having way too much for reasons you couldn’t understand.</p>
<p>“A tour?  That sounds… yeah.  Sure.”  You tried to hide your excitement, but you were bouncing on your toes a little.  A real adventurers guild house.  It was weird to be excited about such things, but it was new and exciting.</p>
<p>“Wakatoshi, why don’t you come with us?  Goshiki, why don’t you get some tea and snacks prepared?”  Tendou held a hand up as Goshiki began to open his mouth, effectively stopping him from complaining, “Must I remind you that you were the one blocking her, potentially making her miss her friends?”</p>
<p>The trio of you left the black haired male behind, Tendou enthusiastically showing you around the house.  There was… well, practically anything you could think of.  The higher ranked you were, the more stuff you got, like your own room or personal attendant.  Weird stuff that sort of boggled your mind.  You had no idea adventurers lived like this.  Hearing stories about Tobio moving into his guild house and having to share a room with Hinata had been nothing like your experience here.</p>
<p>“Take a look at this [Name].”  You were currently in the store room of rare drops, Ushijima leaning against a wall by the door and Tendou showing you all the cool shit.  Tendou was standing in front of a large green scale.  The height of it was about the same as your body length, a beautiful sheen that seemed almost as colorful as a rainbow.  When you turned your head from side to side, keeping your eyes on the scale, it almost seemed like the colors were moving along its surface.  “This is from the floor fifty raid boss.  It’s the pride and joy of the guild.  I think we’re only the second or third guild in recorded history to have defeated it.”</p>
<p>It was so strange that something like this could exist in the natural world.  While just a scale from a fallen boss, it was imbued with magical energy.  You could practically feel it radiating towards you.</p>
<p>Without thinking, you reached out and gently touched the pads of your fingertips against the surface.  To your utter amazement, the scale glowed a little bit, casting an almost daunting glow in the room.</p>
<p>“I-is that normal?”  You retracted your hand, embarrassed you’d touched without asking.  Cradling it in your other hand, you shifted away, suddenly feeling less in awe and more weary of it.</p>
<p>“Not really, no.”  Tendou thunked his fist against the scale, emphasizing the face it didn’t glow for him.  “You’re an interesting one [Name].  I knew it would be fun to bring you here.  Here, try touching thi-”</p>
<p>“Tendou.”</p>
<p>“Right, sorry, sorry.  It’s not nice to ask a lady to touch weird shit we bring back from the dungeon.”  He tossed a not very sincere apologetic smile your way, before lacing his fingers behind his back.  “Let’s see.  I’m sure Goshiki managed to pull something together by now.  Let’s go take a gander and give him a hard time if he’s still struggling!”</p>
<p>Tendou didn’t give you any room for argument as he snatched your unassuming hand, tugging you towards the door.</p>
<p>You cast one last glance at the scale, something seeping deep down in your bones as you pried your eyes away from it.</p>
<p>Touching it had felt so, so very wrong, yet also so very right.</p>
<p>“Tendou what are you- oh.”</p>
<p>A new voice pulled you from your thoughts and you glanced up, meeting the gaze of another guild member.  His dark blonde hair was accented by dark tips, a scowl slowly dissipating from his features.  Seriously, what was with the guys you’d been meeting lately and different colored hair.  Was it a new trend?  </p>
<p>“Semi Semi~!  Meet my new friend, [Name].”  Tendou tugged you towards him, beaming impishly at the newcomer who resumed his scowl.  “I just met her today.”</p>
<p>Semi Semi (was that his actual name?) pinched the bridge of his nose in dismay, shaking his head.  “You know we aren’t supposed to have outsiders here.  What do you think the guild master would think?”</p>
<p>“Probably just yell at me.  It’s honestly nothing new.”  The tugging resumed and you noted that the new guy was following after you, walking beside Ushijima silently.  A few moments later and you were practically being forced down on a luxurious looking couch, a scowling Goshiki looking at you over the rim of a teacup.</p>
<p>“It took you all long enough.”  Goshiki, with more elegance than you’d thought he had, poured a cup of tea and held it out to you.  You dipped your head in thanks and took it from him, blowing on it quietly.  The other protested when he didn’t make a move to do it for them, to which he replied, “Do it your damn selves.”</p>
<p>They were… odd, but it wasn’t unpleasant.</p>
<p>“Tendou, why did you decide to bring over a random lady off the street?”  Semi Semi (you still didn’t know if that was his name) shot you a glance before adding in, “No offense.”</p>
<p>“Cause, if your little one track mind has forgotten, we’re about to go on an expedition.  You know, into a dungeon that’s killed thousands if not hundred of thousands of people.  I figured if I die, I might as well do what I want.”  His dark red orbs slid over to you, his eyes narrowing a little as a smirk curled on his lips.  “Plus, I thought it would be amusing to ask her to attend the party.”</p>
<p>“What.”  It was really impressive how yourself and two other males seemed to say the same thing at the exact same time.  Ushijima only shifting slightly across from you.  At least you weren’t the only one confused by half the stuff he said?</p>
<p>“Tendou, are you serious?  That’s- that’s-!”  Goshiki seemed to get flustered for a moment before he glanced away, “a really good idea actually.”</p>
<p>“I have no idea what you’re talking about and I also have a feeling that I don’t want to know either.”  Raising your cup, you took a sip casually before raising an eyebrow.  “Yet, here I am, about to ask.”</p>
<p>“The king is throwing a party the night before the campaign.”  Surprisingly, it was Ushijima who spoke.  “To get the moral of the adventurers up, apparently.”  Dude actually showed a tinge of annoyance, the first emotion you’d seen from him.</p>
<p>Ah yes, the party.  It was common for the royal family to host the adventurers and guilds who would go on campaigns.  Your father hadn’t invited you, of course, so you’d been planning on sneaking in.  Maybe pose as a maid?  Or maybe ask Kageyama to take you?  As long as you weren’t ousted as the crown princess, everything would be okay.  Even if you got a half hearted scolding from your father for it later. </p>
<p>You weren't exactly the, ah, most royal of princesses ever.  Or best behaved.  Or obedient.  Or… well, a long list of things.  But since your existence was practically hidden from the world, it gave you the freedom to do as you wished.</p>
<p>“A party.”  You weren’t sure how it really had anything to do with you.</p>
<p>“Yes!  And Karasuno and their little monster brats always have their cleric with them.  We don’t need a cleric cause ‘you wouldn’t need one if you didn’t get hurt!’ or so says our guild master.  But I’m kind of salty about them beating our floor clear time… so it’s my own personal way of getting back at them.” </p>
<p>You weren’t following.  A common trend with Tendou, it seemed.  “A-and that would be by….?”</p>
<p>“By bringing a chick who is hotter than theirs to the party!”</p>
<p>You could feel your lower eye twitching as Goshiki and Tendou nodded in tandem, looking at you hopefully.  “I…. see….”</p>
<p>How had your life turned out this way?  If you were to take a page out of their book... your own adventurers motto.  Never trust an adventurer.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Guys, I seriously cannot figure out a good description for this story.  Does mine seem okay?  I feel like I am not describing the essence of my story ;o;</p>
<p>Side note, it's all cheery and happy right now but I do intend to make it a bit more somber in the future.  If you would rather have a more, joking isekai route I can do that too ;u;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You need something… additional.”</p>
<p>“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”  The scowl on your face deepened as you stared at Tendou in the mirror.</p>
<p>How had you ended up trapped within Shiratorizawa’s mansion/castle?  Well.  This morning you’d gone about your daily routine.  The whole, acting like an adorable daughter while immediately sneaking out of the castle at first opportunity.  Really, you were quite a troublesome child.  Perhaps you should make your parents a ‘thanks for putting up with me’ card.  Anyway, as soon as you’d been about to step into the Hall, on a quest to find Tobio, you’d been grabbed and thrown over someone’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“Gottem,” a familiar voice had called, your neck craning around to see the familiar flame of red hair belonging to the Shiratorizawa member you’d met yesterday.  His impish smirk only widened as he lolled his head back and forth, “What I mentioned yesterday?  I was being serious.  And if I recall you laughed and said ‘yeah, sure’.  Which is an indication of agreement!  Therefore, you can’t escape this!” </p>
<p>Shoving your elbow into his back, you propped your chin in the palm of your hand as you seemingly resigned yourself to your fate.  A few people looked at you strangely, (after all, who wouldn’t be weirded out by a girl being carried like a sack of potatoes by a Shiratorizawa member?) but you chose to ignore them.</p>
<p>You had a feeling that even if you did complain Tendou would only laugh or make it even stranger for yourself and those around you.</p>
<p>“Tendou!  I see that you found- oh.”  Another familiar voice cut in and you glanced up a little to see Goshiki coming up behind you two.  He looked puzzled for a moment before he scratched his nose, at least having the nerve to look somewhat embarrassed for his guild mates actions, “Sorry about him.  He’s just…well, he’s Tendou.”</p>
<p>“I’ve… gathered.”</p>
<p>The Shiratorizawa members were nothing but kind, honestly.  Tendou was a bit strange but it made life fun.  And really, you were planning on sneaking into the party tonight anyway so…</p>
<p>Still, you hadn’t anticipated the lengths that Tendou would go.</p>
<p>When you’d arrived, there’d been a room set aside especially for you to get ready in.  All the dresses were accented in white and purple and damn, they really had a theme going on didn’t they?</p>
<p>“How did you even know my size?”  A small flush crossed your cheeks as you twisted around, looking at yourself in the full length mirror.  The dress you’d chosen was nice, if not a little too… Shiratorizawa themed. </p>
<p>Tendou was lazing around on a couch, picking at a stray string, completely relaxed, “I’m good at guessing stuff.”  </p>
<p>Goshiki had fled the scene when Tendou started trying to declothe you and Ushijima had excused himself to do ‘something’.  Which only left Tendou and Semi (not Semi Semi you’d come to find when you greeted him earlier), who had given you tons of criticism on your choices.</p>
<p>Tendou was worse than your maids.  Which you hadn’t thought possible.  Still.  It was kind of fun.</p>
<p>“Anyway, I just can’t put my finger on it.  You’re missing something and it’s annoying me.  The dress looks great, <i> you </i> look great… but there’s just… I don’t know.  There could be more.”</p>
<p>You didn’t know if you should be flattered or offended.  Both.  You settled on both.</p>
<p>“I feel like you’re overthinking this.”  Semi was staring at you intently, as if trying to reassure himself of his own statement.  He squinted and you instinctively took a step back.  “Maybe it’s the hair.”</p>
<p>They were worse than old maids!  What the hell!</p>
<p>“What’s wrong with my hair?”  Puffing out a cheek, you crossed your arms across your chest indignantly.  “I think my hair looks great.”</p>
<p>Semi, as if seemingly realizing what he’d said, flushed and shook his head rapidly.  “I-I’m not saying it like that!  I just meant, uhh, like what Tendou was referring to.  S-sorry, that’s… yeah.  You look fine.  Wait, more than fine.  Super fine?”</p>
<p>Dropping the scowl, you laughed, “You can stop now.”  Though they were weird, they were also amusing.</p>
<p>“Thanks.”</p>
<p>Tendou perked up a little, pushing himself off the couch, “You know… Semi Semi might be right.  I think I’ve got the perfect thing.  Gimme a second.”</p>
<p>Plopping down onto Tendou’s now unoccupied seat, you leaned your head back.  “Is it really okay for me to come with you guys?”  It seemed like they were making a huge deal out of you coming along with them.  It wasn’t like you were a part of their guild or even a party member.</p>
<p>“Yeah, ‘course.  You’re our friend.  And once Tendou has something in his mind we can’t really talk him out of it.  Unless it’s illegal.  Then we have our ways.”  Semi gave you a shrug, as if the answer was obvious.</p>
<p>Friend huh?  You didn’t have many friends outside of Tobio.  You considered Bokuto, Akaashi, Kenma, and Kuroo your companions.  Though Bokuto consistently repeated that you were going to fall in love with him one day.  But friends?</p>
<p>As cheesy and stupid and childish as it was, you gave him a small nod.  “Friends… yeah, I guess that makes sense.”</p>
<p>“I FUCKING FOUND IT.”</p>
<p>You jolted forward a little, surprised at sudden outburst behind you.  As you were about to turn around, Tendou’s hands planted themselves on your shoulders, forcing you to stay still.  “What are you-”</p>
<p>“Shhh, just let it happen.”  Concerning, but you trusted Tendou.  Somewhat….  “Aaaand…” you could feel him messing around with your hair, before some sort of weight added itself to your head.  “Done!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tendou… are you kidding me.”  Semi’s eyes were locked on whatever Tendou had added to your head.  “Are you serious?”</p>
<p>“As serious as can be.  I think it looks great.  Besides, it’s not like any of us could ever use it.”</p>
<p>Squirming out of his grasp you made your way over to the mirror.  A pretty hair pin had been stuck in your hair, the dark purple crystal at the top shimmering as you turned your head back and forth.  “... What’s wrong with it?”  You were immediately suspicious from Semi’s reaction.</p>
<p>“There’s nothing <i> wrong </i> with it per say.”  Semi glanced away, somewhat flustered.  “It’s just… uh… well.”</p>
<p>“It’s a drop from a demon.”</p>
<p>“Wat.”</p>
<p>You turned to see Ushijima standing in the doorway, somewhat miffed at what was going on.  “The hairpin.  It was dropped after we defeated a high level demon boss.”</p>
<p>“Did you seriously just attach something to my body that could be possessed by demonic spirits or something?”</p>
<p>“Hell yeah I did.  And it looks mighty fine.  It’ll be fine… probably.”</p>
<p>What the hell was wrong with adventurers?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> «────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»  </p>
</div>“Good evening.”<p>It took a lot of your willpower to not smirk at the guard currently staring you down.  His lips twitched and it looked like he had to stop himself like...  six times from saying anything.  You really didn’t make anyone’s life easy, did you?</p>
<p>“Welcome, adventurers of the Shiratorizawa Guild.  Please enter the castle and enjoy your evening.  Glory to Lyre.”</p>
<p>The men around you echoed back, “Glory to Lyre” before brushing by the guard, seemingly uninterested in anything but getting inside. </p>
<p>You had absolutely zero idea why you were squished in between Tendou and Ushijima, but chose to stay silent..  Ushijima was kind of scary and Tendou wouldn’t listen to you anyway.  Besides, Tendou had pretty much stated that they were using you against Karasuno for some goodman reason.  Something about their cleric?</p>
<p>As you neared the ballroom, the largest room in the castle, you could hear the boisterous sounds of the other people who had already arrived.  Music and laughing seemed to be the two most prevalent sounds and you smiled, happy you were going as a guest instead of sneaking inside or listening to it from somewhere else within the castle.</p>
<p>“Alright, you know the drill boys.”  Tendou laced his fingers together before stretching his arms out in front of himself, “Get drunk tonight because we sure as hell won’t be able to for a while.”  The doors to the ballroom opened and you were greeted with a ton of people eating, drinking, and chatting away.</p>
<p>Some of the other Shiratorizawa members let out a whoop of approval before scattering into the crowd.</p>
<p>Raising a brow you looked from Tendou, who stared right back at you, to Ushijima and then back again.  “Aren’t you two going to like… go party or whatever?”</p>
<p>“I don’t… enjoy such activities.”  Ushijima seemed uncomfortable as he glanced towards you before looking back up.  “Too much vulnerability.”</p>
<p>“He’s just a sad sack.  As for me, I’d much rather watch people make fools of themselves than be one myself.  Besides…” he did a quick spin on his feet, a hand going by his waist as he bowed, his other hand coming to take yours as he kissed it ‘oh so romantically’.  “I have something far more important than drinking.”   </p>
<p>“T-Tendou you never cease to amaze me.”  Bringing the back of your hand up, you covered your mouth and the lower part of your cheeks a little.  It had not been lost on you that all the adventurers that had recently wandered into your life were attractive men.  While some of them treated you like a friend, others such as Tendou and Bokuto seemed to enjoy making you flustered. </p>
<p>“Anyyyywaaaay~”  Tendou stood back up, his hand still holding onto yours.  “We should enjoy the evening.  I won’t get to see you for a while ya know?  Even though we just met, I’ll miss ya!  You’ve been way too fun to mess around with for me to not miss you.”</p>
<p>Ushijima trailed behind you quietly as Tendou dragged you towards an impressive array of food that had been laid out.  His hand left yours and you wiggled your fingers.  It had been kind of nice, familiar in a way.</p>
<p>“One of the best things about these shindigs is the food.  Free and endless.  Makes worth almost dying kind of worth it, I guess.”</p>
<p>Sometimes you couldn’t tell if Tendou meant the things that he said.  But…</p>
<p>You had been staring at one of the cupcakes, about to reach out for it when a thought stuck you.  He was right.  You wouldn’t get to see any of your new friends.  And… some of them you may never see again.  You only had to worry about Tobio before… and even then he’d never been on a campaign.  This was… this was different.  “Y-You’ll come back safe… won’t you?”</p>
<p>Tendou, having been stuffing his mouth, turned slowly towards you.  He swallowed, appraising the side of your face silently, before he narrowed his eyes a little.  No one had ever really worried about him in that way before.  Most women found him creepy.  Hell, even some of his own guildmates found him weird.  But for you, having just met him, to worry about him coming back?  Well… that was-  </p>
<p>It was when he saw your head start to turn towards him that he grinned down at you, giving you a gentle squeeze on your shoulder.  “Course.  I ain’t that easy to get rid of.”  Tendou’s arm swung back before a loud ‘clap’ sounded as he smacked Ushijima on the back.  The dark haired male, who had been looking out the window, looked down at him questioningly.  “Besides, I got Ushiwaka here to watch my back.  He’s the best, I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”</p>
<p>Ushijima’s lips turned downwards before slowly quirking into what you assumed was an amused look.  At least for him.  To anyone else it was probably so miniscule of an action that he still looked displeased.  But… you had sort of been staring at his face intensely so-</p>
<p>O-oh!  That was probably a fucking bad idea.  Shit.</p>
<p>Flushing, you glanced away from him, occupying yourself with that cupcake that had been staring you down.</p>
<p>“Hey there, if you eat too fast you’ll probably end up choking.”</p>
<p>Swiveling your head around your eyes widened in surprise at the familiar owl like eyes of Bokuto.  He blinked once, before he grinned and held a hand up in greeting.  “Bokuto?  What are you- no.  It makes sense that you’re here.”</p>
<p>He laughed, giving you a couple pats on the head.  “I was about to ask you that!  I was mighty surprised to see you.  And… you to look so… Shiratorizawa ish.”  His golden orbs left your face, looking at the two figures behind you and his expressions shifted into what could only be described as competitive.  “Oh look at what we have here.  If it isn’t the guess monster and the master of steel.”</p>
<p>“Yo, ‘sup owl boy?”  Tendou hunched forward, slinging an arm around your shoulder casually as he and Bokuto had a mini stare down.  “You’re looking as perky as ever.”</p>
<p>“And you’re looking as creepy as ever.”  Bokuto crossed his arms over his chest before jerking his chin towards the taller of the males that flanked you, “And you-!  Do you ever make any sort of expression?”</p>
<p>“Bokuto.”  Ushijima’s deep voice only seemed to fire Bokuto up even more, “It’s been a while.”</p>
<p>“The last time I saw you was when-!  Ack!  Akaashi don’t grab my ear like that!”</p>
<p>Akaashi gave a respectful bow towards Tendou and Ushijima, his expression puzzled when he looked at you, but he quickly shook that off.  “It’s nice to see you two again.  I hope you’re well.  I didn’t know you knew [Name].”</p>
<p>“We recently met.”  Tendou swayed with the two of you, “We got along right away.  Some might say love at first sight!  Am I right or am I right?”</p>
<p>“W-what!”  You flushed, whirling around to look at the beaming redhead.</p>
<p>“Oh did you?”  Akaashi released Bokuto’s ear, shoving a hand in his pocket.  “You might have a hard time then because Bo-”</p>
<p>“NO.  SHE’S GONNA BE MY WIFE OKAY?  MINE.”</p>
<p>“Oh my god.”  This was utterly mortifying.  Bokuto really had no volume control did he?  At this point, you were very aware of several pairs of eyes on you and your small group.  You covered your face, trying your best to will the earth to open up and swallow you whole.</p>
<p>“[N-Name], say it isn’t so!”  Bokuto dramatically swayed back and forth, his eyes glistening as he looked at you hopefully.  “Tell me you aren’t- w-with him of all people.  I just- I can’t-!  I-”</p>
<p>“[Name]?  What the hell are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“A-Another one!  My heart can’t take this!” </p>
<p>Craning your neck back you saw a very familiar person making his way over.  And boy, did he look kinda pissed. “T-Tobio!  Hi!  What’s up?  You’re looking good.  Ahaha, fancy seeing you here!”</p>
<p>The dark haired male came to a stop at your side, head veered back and expression angry as he stared you down.  Namely because he always told you to stay out of these types of gatherings and, at least what you assumed, it made it worse you were there with a rival guild.</p>
<p>“First name basis?”  Bokuto stumbled back, lower lip quivering.  “Akaashi I’m going to lose my future wife at this rate.”</p>
<p>“Future wife?”  Kageyama rose an eyebrow, lightning cracking expression turning towards Bokuto.  “And <i> who </i> exactly are you referring to your future wife as?”</p>
<p>“[Name] of course.  It was love at first dungeon adventure.  Which is obviously better than at first sight.  Looking at you Tendou.”</p>
<p>“Oh really?  Well, I’ll have you know, I helped her pick this dress out today~  She was at <i> our </i> guildhouse all day.”</p>
<p>“What did you just say?”</p>
<p>“WHAT.  [NAME] YOU WERE AT THEIR HOUSE?  YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND DOES NOT APPROVE!”</p>
<p>“Yeah she was!  Yesterday and today.  Isn’t that right [Name]... uh…”</p>
<p>All three males turned towards where you had been, a large arrow pointing at a suspiciously empty space, indicating you had stealthily made your escape from the awkward situation.</p>
<p>“Ushiwaka, where did she go?”  Tendou threw his hands up in dismay as he turned towards his larger companion.  Both miffed that you’d escaped and surprised Ushijima had done nothing to prevent it.</p>
<p>“I believe she’s right there.  Talking to Oikawa.”</p>
<p>The three males whipped around, expressions varying as they zoned in on your back.</p>
<p>“S-sorry about that.”  You gave a little laugh as you dusted off your dress.  Having slipped away from Tendou, you’d accidentally crashed into someone as you zipped through the crowd.  They had reached out and put their hands on your shoulders to steady you, looking at you with a rather kind expression.  He seemed familiar… but why?</p>
<p>“It’s not a problem.  Are you alright?”</p>
<p>You glanced up, locking gazes with his pretty dark eyes.  He was… damn, he was attractive.  What had suddenly turned you into a hot guy magnet?  Shit.  A blessing and a curse.  “I’m fine, thank you.  I was just trying to escape-”</p>
<p>“[NAMEEEEEE]!”</p>
<p>“Tch.  Aoba Johsai.”</p>
<p>“That.”  You said with a little sigh as Bokuto and Tendou appeared beside you.</p>
<p>Almost in sync, Bokuto and Tendou grabbed one of Oikawa’s arms, tugging them off of you.  He seemed like a good sport, only putting one of them behind his head as he laughed.  “Well hello to both of you, Bokuto and Tendou.  It’s been a while.  It’s like one big reunion.  Though I don’t recall seeing this lovely lady with either of you before.”</p>
<p>Tendou put both arms out, with you being the center of them, as if he was displaying you.  “Note the white and purple.  She’s with us.”  He blinked, before an impish smirk fell on his lips.  “If you’d only come to Shiratorizawa’s guild… am I right?”</p>
<p>The pretty brown haired male twitched, smile cracking ever so slightly as he looked towards Tendou.  “Oh, how hilarious.  It seems you’ve picked up a rather annoying sentiment from your DPS.  Where is the big guy anyway?  No doubt annoyed at not being allowed to bring weapons inside.  He’s probably brooding in some corner.”  His head turned back and forth as he looked around, eyes lighting up as he spotted something, “Oh, and look, there’s little Tobio too over there.  He looks rather annoyed.  Did I do something to make him mad?”</p>
<p>“No.  Come to think of it, [Name] called him Tobio too.  Do you two know each other as well?”</p>
<p>“I can’t say that I do.  I think I would have remembered such a cute face.  I’m Oikawa Tooru.  Not sure if that’ll ring any bells for you.  I’m part of the Aoba Johsai guild.  Currently ranked as the number one archer in Lyre.  I taught little Tobio all he knows.”</p>
<p>Ah.  That was it.  That’s why he looked familiar.  One time you’d been out and about in town with Kageyama and he’d practically shoved you into an alley as the man in front of you passed by.  He’d gone on this huge rampage about how he was going to be better than Oikawa and blah blah blah.  You’d been more depressed and concentrated on the fallen soldier that was your food.  You’d made Kageyama buy you more. </p>
<p>“It’s nice to meet you Oikawa.  I’m [Name].  As you’ve probably gathered.”  You gave him a tiny dip of your knees, trying to be formal in a formal setting.</p>
<p>“It’s truly a pleasure.”  Oikawa gave you a warm smile, glancing away from you to Tendou and Bokuto.  “I would give you a proper greeting but I fear that I might make them mad if I did.”</p>
<p>“Only because you’re a known player!  I don’t want [Name] to get sucked in by your stupidly high charm stats.  It’s not even fair.”  Bokuto reached out and poked the side of your head, “He’s charming but he’s also a huge douche.”</p>
<p>“I’m just here because I’m here as her escort.  So I’ve, of course, got to take care of her.”</p>
<p>“W-Whaaaat?  Her escort?  How did you manage that ginger?”</p>
<p>“By asking her.”</p>
<p>“Shit.  I should have done that.”</p>
<p>“Heh.”  All three males turned to look at you as you covered your mouth, letting out a little laugh.  Looking up at them you grinned, “You’re all just so funny.”</p>
<p>Bokuto blinked before he grinned, wrapped an arm around your shoulder as Tendou tried to slap him off.  “Well, humor is an important marital trait so I’m glad you think so.”</p>
<p>“Owl boy, I’m going to have to ask you to-”</p>
<p>“Welcome!”  Tendou cut himself off as the lights in the ballroom turned off, reappearing as the King and Queen stood up by their thrones on the raised platform.  “I would like to thank you all for coming tonight.  Thank you, first and foremost, for accepting this expedition.  I’m sure, as you all know, the kingdom is grateful for all that you adventurers do.  I hope that you all will eat and drink to your heart's content.”</p>
<p>Your mother and father looked quite happy up there.  It always made you happy seeing them happy.</p>
<p>“Please know that as the keepers of this kingdom, we are very-”</p>
<p>Humans, as kind as some of them were, had always had a nasty streak of being quite wicked.  The human heart always wants.  It always craves things that it can never possess.  Jealousy was the breeding ground for hatred and violence.</p>
<p>“Get down!”</p>
<p>The windows around the ballroom shattered, figures crashing through them as the glass sparkled almost beautifully as it rained down.</p>
<p>You were mesmerized.  Your gaze trained on the faces of your parents.  One moment they were smiling, giving their thanks to the men and women around you and then the next, your father was shielding your mother with his own body.</p>
<p>Everything came crashing down on you as Bokuto pulled you down, his arm having been slung around your shoulder, doing something similar to what your father had done.</p>
<p>“Dammit.  What the hell do they think they’re doing?”  His face was close to yours, but his usually goofy expression was replaced with a serious and almost cold one.  “Hell of a night to pick to invade.”</p>
<p>His arms were wrapped around you as he shielded you, the sound of metal on metal ringing in your ears.  His eyes met yours, his eyes softening as they did.  You hadn’t realized it, but you were clinging to him, your fingers twisted in the material of his shirt.</p>
<p>“Hey now, don’t worry.  I won’t let anything happen to you.  What kind of future husband would I be if I did?”  He gave you a quick wink, tugging you to your feet as he stood.  Kenma and Kuroo had joined you, along with a few other members of Shiratorizawa and some you assumed to be Aoba Johsai.</p>
<p>“It’s Eldor again, isn’t it?”  Bokuto lifted a leg, pulling a dagger out of his boot as his sharp gaze continuously scanned around them.  “Bastards.  Can’t just leave us alone can they?”</p>
<p>“You know what they say,” Kuroo said with a smirk as he snapped his fingers, pretty balls of blue fire appearing before him before he arched his arm out, sending them flying in all directions.  “People.  What a bunch of bastards.”</p>
<p>“Kenma,” Bokuto’s gaze fell on the smaller male, who looked more annoyed than anything, “Why don’t you take [Name] somewhere safe?  We’ll get this taken care of pretty quickly.”</p>
<p>As if to prove his point, Ushijima caught your eye.  He had easily disarmed one of the attackers, using their own sword to cut them and their comrades down.  You’d never seen Ushijima in action, but it was no wonder that he was called the master of steel.  The way the sword flowed with his movements was beautiful.  It would have almost looked like a dance if not for the blood splattering as he cut them down one after one.</p>
<p>“Sure.”</p>
<p>“I’ll come find you after,” Tendou said with a grin as he knocked his fist on your head.  “Have to say a proper goodbye after all.”</p>
<p>You gave a little nod, reassured by just how calm they all were.  It seemed like this was nothing but a small inconvenience.  Dungeon monsters you could handle, their deaths were insignificant.  You’d never seen human on human violence before, though.  They had probably assumed as much.  They were trying to look out for you.</p>
<p>Kenma started to lead you from the room, the adventurers from the various guilds fending off the attackers with what seemed like relative ease.  It was about when you were nearing the doors that it happened.  Someone from the shadows appeared on Kenma’s side.  He turned slightly to deal with them, a hand coming from behind you to grab you as his attention left you.</p>
<p>The attackers elbow hooked around your neck, securing you against their body.  You couldn’t get enough air into your body to shout or scream.  It was a strange, almost out of body experience.  You could feel the tears prickling in your eyes, your hands clawing desperately at his arm to release you so you could breathe.  Kenma was fighting some attacker, completely unaware of the peril that you were facing.</p>
<p>Adrenaline kicked in.  Digging your nails into his arm you began to kick, your mind fading in and out as you began to lose consciousness.  As you felt your vision start to blur to black, you saw a strand of hair in your peripheral vision.  With the last ounce of strength you had left, you reached up to grab the hairpin Tendou had stuck in.  With as much force as you could manage, you swung your arm down, imbedding the pointy end into your attackers leg.</p>
<p>You were tossed to the ground, as he yelped, a crimson stain beginning to bloom on his pants where your hairpin stuck out.  Palms flat on the ballroom ground, you gasped, your airways burning as they tried to intake as much air as possible.  Your entire body still felt weak, and you could barely hold your torso off the floor as you struggled to pull yourself away from him.</p>
<p>“You little bitch.”</p>
<p>A whine left your lips as he grabbed your hair, using it as leverage to pick you up.</p>
<p>“I’m going to- ah, what the fuck?!”</p>
<p>You collapsed to the floor again as he released you, his body making weird jerky movements.  You lifted your head up, and to your horror, the dark purple crystal of your hair pin was now a dark crimson, blood dripping down from it.  It pulsed as if it was a human heart, and the man threw his head back in pain.</p>
<p>One pulse.  He screamed.  Two pulses.  He screamed again, something inhuman.  Three pulses.  The sounds he was making were no longer coming from a living human being.</p>
<p>The sounds of steel had ceased, every eye turned towards the horrible noises the man was making.</p>
<p>Adventurers who had been deep down into the dungeon knew it well.  It caused dread to seep down into their very bones.  This was not the dungeon.  Things like this shouldn’t be able to exist in the real world.</p>
<p>Black ooze began to leak from his mouth and his eyes, his body jerkily walking away from you.  You trembled, scrambling back as some landed right near your foot.  It sizzled, steam coming from it as it faded away, staining the ground in its wake.</p>
<p>“I-” the voice was disembodied.  It sounded like some sort of monster trying to imitate human speech.  The man stopped, arms twitching here and there as it tried to use human speech.  “I-.  We-.  It is- found.  Found.  Foundfoundfoundfound.  We- I- found.  Found you.”</p>
<p>You weren’t sure if this was a nightmare.  But if it was, you wished you could wake up from it.  The voice, if it could even be called a voice, was terrifying.  It wasn’t something that should ever be heard.  It sounded like it had come from hell itself.</p>
<p>“Found.  You.”</p>
<p>The man convulsed again, back arching violently as some strange black mist began to swirl around his stomach.  A mix of human screaming and monstorious laughter erupted as a black, oozing hand tore through his stomach, as if something was trying to crawl its way out.</p>
<p>Faster than the human eye could comprehend, the thing launched itself from the man.  Its intended target?</p>
<p>“No!”</p>
<p>The dungeon was a wonderful place.  It truly was.  It brought about some of the most fascinating things known to man.  But it was also a terribly place full of monsters and death.  Perhaps mankind had wandered too far.  Perhaps mankind had brought this on itself.</p>
<p>Your mother fell to the floor, her eyes wide in surprise as her fingers slipped from your father's arm.</p>
<p>“Found.  Foundfoundfound. Fou...nd.  Fo….un...d”</p>
<p>The voice began to fade away as the black mist dissipated, raining down like ashes on your mother's fallen body.</p>
<p>“Please.  Oh god, please.  Someone.  Please!”</p>
<p>It was your fault.  You could only lay on the floor pathetically, your hand reaching out towards your mother as your father sobbed.  He didn’t care for his title as king, or for his dignity.  In this moment the only thing that mattered was the woman in his arms.  The woman whose eyes began to dim as her body began to grow cold.</p>
<p>The world seemed to come whooshing back, as people began to move around, shouts and screams bouncing off the ballroom walls.  You couldn’t speak, your throat was burning as you tried to do something… <i> anything </i></p>
<p>You caused it.  This was your fault.  All because you wanted to go to the stupid party.  Your fault.  Yourfaultyourfaultyourfaul-</p>
<p>“[Name]!”</p>
<p>You weren’t even sure who it was speaking to you, your consciousness fading in and out now that the adrenaline rush was over.</p>
<p>“[Name].  Hang in there.  It’s going to be ok.”</p>
<p>Their voice fell on deaf ears as your gaze locked onto your grieving father.  He slowly began to stand as your vision faded, his expression hard as he gently laid your mother's body down.</p>
<p>“This expedition has changed,” His voice boomed, causing the bustle around you to halt.  “Tomorrow, all of you will venture to the one hundredth floor of the dungeon and retrieve the stone there.”  His voice faltered and your consciousness faded.</p>
<p>Yourfaultyourfaultyourfault.</p>
<p>y̶͙̖̳͋̅͆o̸̠̠͖̅u̸͓͗r̵̛̙̼̋ ̴̬̤̇̆f̴̡̥̎a̵̫̔̉ṳ̶̡̨̿͒l̷̗̗̥͐t̶̗̳̎ ̵̦̮͎̍͝</p>
<p>Mother.  Father.</p>
<p>y̶͖̖̪̥͉̞̞̙̰̑̇̎̈Ö̴̢̢̡͇̤̺̗̰̱̭́̄̏̽͛̄̏͘͝͝ǔ̸̟̜̠̲͆͜R̸̘̭̫͉̍̃́̇͐̓͠ ̸̛̫̇̃͐̏F̶̩͈͐̔͐̂̒̍̽̎͠Å̴̧̛̛͍̞̥͔̎̈́͒̔͠u̸̡͍̦̞͕̒̆͐͋̋̈́͑̈́͘l̶̘͖̳̙̰̭͗̎͒͗̍́̇̊͘̚͝T̵̨̗̮͔̝̩͓̄̀͛̆̽͑̇</p>
<p>I’m so, so sorry.</p>
<p>F̵̻͉͚̰̙̜̝͇͎̒͒̋Õ̸̼͔͝U̶̞̩͚͚̠̰̙̫̟̻̟͊͊̓͆͐̈́̚͝N̵̲̖̘̦̍͛͑̋D̶̨̰͕̣̰̠̦̥̖͑̿̋͗̅̈̔͛̊̂̐̽̉̚ ̷̡̱͓̱̬̰̲́̋Y̵̧̡̯̹͉͍͍̠̪̦̩̬͉̲̦̱̽̏̋̆̉͊̔̋͐͆͑͘̕O̵̧̠̞̤͕͉͉̦͊̽͌̉͌̀͒̔̿́̇̃̅U̴̧̐͂̇͂̄͆͆͂͘</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Eldor:  The country to the west of Lyre.  Known mainly for their sham of a king who wastes his power and money away on booze and women.  Many people have migrated from Eldor to Lyre.  Once known for their military, they are no longer a match for Lyre's adventurers, who spend their time training their stats.  Lyre's king is also known for his hatred of Lyre's ruling monarchy, stating that it is Eldor that should possess the dungeon. </p>
<p>--<br/>This one took me a while!  So sorry!  We had a huge project at work that needed to get done!  Also I wasn't sure if this was the route I wanted to take.  But yolo, I did it.  I'm really excited for this to start having more serious themes.</p>
<p>As always, thank you everyone for your comments.  Your comments made me want to write.  I hope I didn't let you down! ;o;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Into the Deep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Love.  It is considered the most dangerous emotion of them all.  Many have been driven to madness from it, thrown into the deepest depths of despair.  Many chase after it, desperate to feel its embrace, and many do unspeakable things when it’s taken away from them.  While it is a wonderful and powerful emotion, it is also one that had led many to their downfall.  For love, in its purest form, is nothing more than the desire of the human heart.</p>
<p>It was dark when you woke up.  For a moment, you just continued to lay on your back as you stared at the ceiling.  It seemed surreal.  You knew what had happened- you’d seen it with your very eyes after all, but your mind was constantly trying to reject it.  </p>
<p><i> It was a dream </i>.</p>
<p>No.  It wasn’t.  You could still feel the man's arm around your neck, squeezing the air from your lungs. </p>
<p>
  <i> Please tell me it was just a dream. </i>
</p>
<p>The dry blood caked under your fingernails proved that everything that had transpired was real.  Your mother was dead.  </p>
<p>And it was y̶̫͛̈o̸̥̗̞͗ṳ̴̪̽͆r̷̺̈̌͘ ̴͉͍͂f̵̻̦̫̑ä̷̦̤́ŭ̶͓l̶̛̹̐̀t̸͓̜͔͛.</p>
<p>Something clattered behind you and you sat up, startled.  By this time, your eyes had adjusted enough that you could make out the objects and features of the room.  You were on the couch that Tendou had been occupying earlier that day, in the room full of dresses he’d presented you with.  It made sense.  The only one, besides some within the royal palace, who knew your true identity was Kageyama.  He wasn’t going to reveal the fact that you were the crown princess after the queen had just been murdered in cold blood.  Thus, passed out, the people who had brought you had also taken you back.  Or so you assumed.</p>
<p>“Goshiki, can you please try not to drop shit?”  Tendou’s muffled voice floated through the closed door, giving you some sense of peace.  You were safe.</p>
<p>“S-sorry.”</p>
<p>Their footsteps echoed down the hall before they were out of earshot, leaving you alone in the dark once more.</p>
<p>Left alone with only your thoughts, you began to mull over what you’d do now.  There was the logical option, the one you knew was the best.  You should return to the castle and be with your grieving father.  You were the crown princess and heir to this country.  It was your destiny to survive to ascend to the throne.  It was your duty, your burden to bear.</p>
<p>Yet.  The burning in your heart, in the very core of your being was telling you to screw that.  Sitting around doing nothing was useless.  There was a way.  A way to bring your mother back.  On the hundredth floor of the dungeon was the stone that could bring back the dead.  The very place the adventurers would begin their expedition to come sunrise.</p>
<p>You knew deep down that it was stupid.  That it was selfish and unreasonable.  But the pain in your heart would not allow you to think rationally.  All you desired, all you wanted, was to see your mothers smiling face again.  To bring her back to both yourself and your father.  How could you face him when it had been because of something you’d done?</p>
<p>You weren’t sure what exactly happened.  It had happened quickly and seemed like something beyond reason- the stone in the hairpin… and the monster that arose from it.  But you had a feeling if you hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have ended up like that.  You had directly or indirectly been a catalyst for the events that transpired.</p>
<p>If you sat and did nothing, you would eventually waste away in your guilt.  That much you were sure of.</p>
<p>The plan you thought of wasn’t the best, in fact, it was probably stupid and Kageyama would tell you that you were an absolute idiot.  But desperate people didn’t often think things through.</p>
<p>The first thing you had to do was sneak away from Shiratorizawa.  While you didn’t know them well, you got the feeling if any of them figured out who you were or what your plan was… they’d make sure you were locked up in the castle.  You couldn’t have that.</p>
<p>Standing up, you rocked back and forth on the balls of your feet to test your strength.  You were weakened, probably from nearly having your windpipe crushed, but you were able to move decently enough.</p>
<p>“Conceal thy presence and cover my trail.  Guide me through the valley of shadows. Furtivatio.”  It was a weak stealth skill, but the majority of your strength right now was going into trying to recover your body to its natural state.  While your mana was high, if your body was weakened it would vastly affect your magical power.  Right now you needed to conserve.  If you wanted to execute your plan, you’d have to have a steady flow of mana later.</p>
<p>Thankfully, your clothes from earlier were still on the ground at the back end of the room.  You shed your dress in favor of them, as even though it was quite pretty… it wasn’t the easiest to maneuver in.  Once you were sure that no one was around, you began to make your escape.  It seemed that the guild was mostly asleep, though there were a few preoccupied with tasks for the upcoming campaign.  It made it almost comically easy for you to stride right out of there, your presence masked by the dark shadows in the hallways cast by the moon's faint glow.</p>
<p>The front door was left ajar and you twisted your body to perfectly slide out of it without causing it to move.  Piles of boxes with armor and weapons sticking out were strewn across the front yard, no doubt the supplies for the morning.  Taking a few steps forward you began to stealthily make your way away from the house.</p>
<p>“Tendou will be sad.”</p>
<p>The deep voice behind you nearly gave you a heart attack and you spun around, already on the defense.  Peering into the shadows that the building cast, you were able to faintly make out a figure leaning against the wall.</p>
<p>“Ushi…” fuck, they called him two different names.  Which one was his actual?  “...Ji...ma?”</p>
<p>He didn’t seem put out by the fact you hadn’t retained his actual name.  Instead, he simply pushed himself up off the wall and took a few strides forward.  He was, once again, decked out in tons of weapons.  If you’d randomly run into him on the street, you probably would have been terrified.  As it stood, you considered yourself on friendly terms with him.</p>
<p>“What are you doing out here?  You’re still injured.”  He was very straight to the point wasn’t he?  “We didn’t know where you lived and your friend wouldn’t tell us, so we brought you back here.”</p>
<p>At least you could appreciate his forwardness.  He didn’t really say anything more than necessary and everything he said felt genuine.  “I have to go.”</p>
<p>His expression shifted slightly, and for a moment you felt the pang of sheer intimidation you had when you first met him.  It seemed like he noticed as he changed his expression back to the somewhat unapproachable impassive look it usually was.  “I see.”</p>
<p>You two fell into silence, the moon’s glow fading in and out as the clouds passed in front of it.  It felt like he was judging you.  Oh no.  Could he be doing a perception check on you?  Shit.  Would he kill you if he thought something was out of place?  He didn’t seem like the type of person to let someone suspicious waltz out and-</p>
<p>“Do what you must.”</p>
<p>Orrrrr, nevermind then.</p>
<p>You swallowed, your muscles slowly relaxing.  When had you even gotten so tense?  He definitely had some sort of intimidation passive or something.  Even if you were acquainted, maybe even borderline moving towards friends, he still made you nervous.  Like there was more to his gaze than he let on.</p>
<p>“Thank you.”  Clenching and unclenching your fist a few times you let out a shaky breath before turning around.  Taking a few steps you paused, before casting a glance over your shoulder.  He was still standing there, as astute as always, his gaze trained on yours.  “Good luck, tomorrow and all.”</p>
<p>Ushijima gave you a small tilt of his head, before he turned and seemingly melted back into the shadows.  For such a big guy, he sure did have a lot of stealth.  Shit, you were really interested in how his stats were set up but- now was not the time for that.</p>
<p>“Right.”  Heading out passed the gates of the Shiratorizawa guild you clapped both hands on your cheeks.  “Time to focus.”</p>
<p>It was time to put your plan into motion.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> «────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»  </p>
</div>“What’s got a stick up Shiratorizawa’s ass?”<p>You glanced up, blonde bangs swaying annoyingly in your vision as you tried to see what Sugawara was talking about.</p>
<p>“Dunno.  Redhead has been pissy all morning.  Hey Yachi, mind getting off that box?  I need something inside.”</p>
<p>Giving them a little nod you hopped off the box, dusting your skirt off as you landed.  The super short rogue dps gave you a cheery smile before occupying himself with the box you’d been on.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the smoothest of plans.  But you’d switched places with one of Karasuno’s clerics.   Mimic could copy a person’s appearance and voice, but it didn’t port over their personality. You’d only met her twice, but her personality was easy to imitate.  You had to go with the low hanging apples.  It was honestly the best option you had to sneak in on the expedition.  Plus, you’d heard so much about Karasuno’s guild from Kageyama’s rants that you felt you could blend in with that knowledge alone until you got your own grasp.</p>
<p>“S-sorry about that!”</p>
<p>“Hey now,” what was his name again?  Shit.  You really needed to focus.  Your charisma and persuasion stats were high, and hell even your charm stat might help… but if he ran a perception check on you, especially as a rogue, he’d probably beat your deception.  As a royal family member you had a demerit to your deception.  Apparently it wasn’t a good thing for rulers to be deceitful or something.  “Now, I know you’re nervous Yachi.  But don’t worry!  I’ll be right beside you.  Nothing will get past me!” </p>
<p>“Noya is as cheery as ever.”  The tall and kind of scary guy said with a little laugh.  Uhh.  Asahi right?  Yeah.  That was it.  “I still can’t believe we’re going to try and go all the way to the hundredth floor.”</p>
<p>You shrank away from Asahi instinctively and he got all dramatically teary as Noya clapped him on the back enthusiastically a few times.  “Well it had to happen sooner or later.  I guess it’s now.  I’m sure it’ll go fine.  Stop being all mopey.”</p>
<p>“Besides,” Tanaka (you knew him, he was so loud how could you <i> not </i> retain his name) said with a wiggle of his body.  “We have the goddess Kiyoko looking after us.  Heal me baby, I’m injured and it can only be solved with a kiss!”</p>
<p>Tanaka flung himself at the black haired girl, who easily dodged him and made her way over to you.</p>
<p>“I love it when she plays hard to get.”</p>
<p>“Ahhh,” you let out an awkward laugh.  Geez, Karasuno was just as weird as Kageyama said.  Speaking of which, where was that-</p>
<p>“Hinata you fucking dumbass stop eating our rations!”</p>
<p>There he was.</p>
<p>“It’s okay to be nervous.” Oh.  You turned to look at the friendly girl in front of you, lips parting in surprise as she put a hand on top of your head.  “It’s your first expedition and all.  But don’t worry.  They’ve all been training really hard and I’m sure they’ll protect us.  Have faith in them.”</p>
<p>What would that nervous girl do right now?  You hesitated for a second before nodding, fingers twisting in the material of your skirt.  “Y-yeah.  I know.  It’s just so sad that the queen died and now we’re going in deeper than ever.  I was just thinking… what if the stone doesn’t really exist?”</p>
<p>Kiyoko made a thoughtful face before tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.  “We can’t really think about that.  For now, we’ve just got to do what we can to help.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t a particularly reassuring answer, but you knew that saying anything more was probably a bad idea.  Almost like cursing the expedition before it even started.</p>
<p>“They’ve almost finished taking all the supply wagons down using the guild entrance,” the party leader Daichi announced, gaining Karasuno’s attention.  “Let me tell you what the plan is.”</p>
<p>The first day would consist of forming the campaign's formation and testing it out on the upper floors.  There were four groups.  The first was the scouts, this was made up of the quickest and most stealthy members.  Their job was to gather information, typically on the floors that had yet to be explored and report it back to the second group.  The second group, the vanguard, was made up of the elite members of each guild.  They would clear the floors and floor bosses for the other parties to follow.  The third party, the party you were in, was considered the middle party.  It consisted of the clerics from each guild as well as some of the supplies.  The last part was considered the rear guard, consisting of the smiths and more of the supply wagons.</p>
<p>Within the last two groups there were quite a few adventurers of varying classes, tasked with protecting the non combatants from any strays the vanguard left, or if the respaws were too quick.</p>
<p>“Our goal is to have all four parties make it to floor twenty by the end of the day.  Well, theoretical day.  Once we’re down there, as you know, time isn’t quite the same.”  Daichi pulled out a map, trailing his finger along the route that symbolized the different floors.  “With the vanguard that we have, they think that clearing the floor boss will be easy.  We’ll be able to make camp there, as the respawn time for that boss is a week.  The vanguard and scouts will continue on to the next floor while we rest for a while.  After that, we will all head to floor twenty five and its safe zone.  The lower we get, the harder the floors become.”</p>
<p>“Vanguard!  Please assemble!  It’s time for you to go!”</p>
<p>Daichi looked up as one of the guild masters, who was helping with the preparations, called out. </p>
<p>“That means it’s time to go.  Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, Asahi, let’s go.”  The small group shared a look with their party members before nodding.</p>
<p>Noya and Tanaka, were tasked with staying by their clerics.  Noya had originally been assigned to the scouts, but was put back in the vanguard since two of the roughly six clerics were from his guild.</p>
<p>Kageyama turned to leave and you hesitated but reached out anyway, grabbing at the back of his shirt lightly.  “Be careful okay….?”</p>
<p>He looked suspicious and you immediately became flustered, realizing that Yachi was...  well, typically sort of terrified by him.  “I-I mean all of you better come back fine!  And if you aren’t fine I’ll be here to heal you but… just be careful okay!”</p>
<p>His expression softened a little and he gave a little smile, stirring something in your chest, “Don’t worry.  I’m going to be the best archer in all of Lyre.  You don’t have to worry about me.”</p>
<p>Since when had Kageyama grown up so much?</p>
<p>His shirt slipped from your grasp and you watched as Hinata came bounding up to him excitedly.  “And we’re going to show up those Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai guys while we’re at it.” </p>
<p>All you could do was wave at them weakly as they turned to leave.</p>
<p>“Come’on Yachi.  Let’s get ready.”</p>
<p>You turned to look at Kiyoko before nodding, reaching down to heft your bag up on your shoulders.</p>
<p>The campaign to the hundredth floor had officially begun.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> «────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»  </p>
</div><div class="center">
  <p> Expedition Day 1 </p>
</div>“My feet… hurt… so bad.”  You bent over slightly as you walked, arms hanging limping towards the ground.  Going down into the dungeon was a lot less glamorous than you had first thought.  Though, it seemed like all you did right now was nonstop walking.  Apparently they were really intent on getting to the twentieth floor as quickly as possible.<p>“Oh right, this is your first extended trip into the dungeon.”  Noya was leisurely strolling beside you, arms behind his head as he looked around the floor.  “It is a lot of walking.  If we went and beat the mini floor bosses we could bypass some of the walking and teleport, but our parties are much too big for that.  We’d typically be able to take the quicker routes too, but the wagons and stuff won’t fit through that either.  So we’ve got to take the scenic route.”</p>
<p>“How long have we been walking?”</p>
<p>Noya pulled out a watch and looked at it for a moment before shrugging, “Probably like eight hours total or so.  Since these floors are easy peasy, they don’t want us to waste any time on them.”</p>
<p>The only respite you’d gotten was back on floor thirteen.  A huge swarm of woolies had been passing through the route, and as a precious resource to the kingdom, the middle and rear parties were forced to stop and wait for them to pass.</p>
<p>It was a sweet relief.  You hadn’t really put many points or training into endurance.  Everyone else there seemed like they weren’t bothered by the extended walking, making you feel like your stats were not ideal for dungeon exploration.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry,” Noya waved a hand up in the air, shooing a large drillbe away.  “Floor seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen aren’t as bad as this one.”</p>
<p>Floor sixteen, you’d come to find, was full of fucking bugs.  Or creatures that looked like bugs.  They were mostly harmless, if just annoying as shit.  The drillbes, a large fuzzy orange flying puff looking thing, didn’t do any damage to humans but the strange pollen they shed caused a burning sensation in your nose.</p>
<p>Floor seventeen was like a desert, with wind whipping sand and hair into your eyes and mouth.  You hated that floor the most.</p>
<p>Floor eighteen was similar to the upper floors.  It was rocky, like you were walking around in a cave, with the occasional monster appearing here and there.  The monsters here, though, were much stronger than the upper floors.  Minotaur and danger bears appeared here, high level beasts that could tear a new adventurer to shreds.</p>
<p>As you walked from floor eighteen to nineteen, you could see the remnants of the vanguard.  Blood splatters and small gems littered the hallways, almost like little markers that you were on the right path.  Were they tired?  They must be, walking and fighting at the same time.  For the most part, all you had to do was walk.  The vanguard was really making it easy on the middle and rear, weren’t they?</p>
<p>Floor nineteen was kind of spooky.  It was almost identical to the floor above, but lacked any light source.  There were no light gems embedded in the stones, which gave off an ominous sort of feeling.  Thankfully the parties were well prepared and torches were lit to show the way, but it was still unnerving.  Especially when you’d walk by a gaping cavern and if you turned to look, there’d only be pitch black.</p>
<p>It made you feel like something was watching you from the shadows.</p>
<p>“Ack-”</p>
<p>“Woah, careful there.”  Tanaka gave you a little laugh as he grabbed your arm, keeping you from falling on your ass.  “We’re almost there.  Here, why don’t I give you a lift?”</p>
<p>If this man asked you to marry him, you might have honestly considered it.</p>
<p>“Please.  I don’t think I can last much longer.”  Tanaka crouched down in front of you, letting you clamber up onto his back.  With his hands on your thighs and your arms around his neck, the two of you shuffled down the steep decline leading to floor twenty.</p>
<p>“Man I remember my first time down here.  We had to run away from the floor boss.  We couldn’t beat it.”  He let out a laugh, his body reverberating under your own.  It made you feel at ease.  “Kiyoko sure had her hands full, healing our dumb asses.”</p>
<p>“And now you have the fastest clear time.  It’s really amazing.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah it is.  We’ve really come a long way as a guild.  It’s been quite a few years since Karasuno lost their ranking.  And now we’re bringing it back, as strong as ever.”</p>
<p>You really liked everyone in Kageyama’s guild.  They were good people.  Perhaps that’s one of the reasons he’d grown up.</p>
<p>“Aaaand, here we are.  Creepy aint it?”</p>
<p>Tanaka took another step out from the hallway you’d been traveling down before coming to a stop.  Once you slid down off his back you took the chance to look around.  Floor twenty was the first floor that contained what was known as a raid boss.  Each floor had a boss, but a raid boss was a particularly strong monster that acted as a gatekeeper to the floors below.  They were usually huge and could not be soloed.</p>
<p>“This is where Haygor the Dead spawns.  He’s this big old level thirty skeleton boss.  Has a bunch of little skeleton minions that spawn when you get his health bar to half.  Annoying little fucks.”</p>
<p>The room, if you could even call it that, was massive.  Large light crystals jutted out from the ceiling, illuminating the square area of space.  On the far wall, was a huge ornate door that was left open.  The vanguard must have passed through to floor twenty one.  Once defeated, the boss would turn to ash and the door would open.  Or at least that’s how the raid boss mechanics worked to your knowledge. </p>
<p>To your right, several hundred yards away, was a huge throne.  It was where you assumed Haygor spawned.  It thankfully sat empty, but still looked imposing.  It was huge.  Whatever spawned there must be massive.</p>
<p>“Man, I kinda wish I was in the vanguard.  It’s been pretty boring.”  Tanaka laced his fingers together before raising them above his head, stretching.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you say that now but once we hit like, floor thirty nine I’m sure you’ll change your tune real quick.”  Noya gently shoved Tanaka to the side as a freakishly tall silver haired guy jogged towards your little group.</p>
<p>“Yo!”  He gave a greeting, green eyes briefly looking at you before turning his attention to your two companions.  “Vanguard beat Haygor about two hours ago.  They went ahead to floor twenty one.  We’ve been instructed to regroup here and wait for the rear guard.  Sleep if you can.  We’ll probably continue forward in about six hours or so.”</p>
<p>Six hours?  That was all you were going to get?  Damn, adventuring life wasn’t easy.</p>
<p>“Lev, I thought you’d be with the vanguard.”  Tanaka plopped down, motioning for you to drop your bag which contained a small tent and some rations.  Once you complied, he began to pull stuff out of it, awkwardly trying to put the tent together.</p>
<p>“I wanted to be but Yaku kicked my ass in a duel and said that proved I wasn’t good enough yet.”  He bent backwards a little bit, “Man, they’re probably living it up.  I wonder if any of them got any cool drops.”</p>
<p>Tanaka scratched his head as he pathetically worked on the tent, Kiyoko rolling her eyes and taking over for him soon after.</p>
<p>“It looks like the rear guard is arriving.”  Noya stood up from where he’d been crouching, his heightened hearing alerting him to their presence.  “We should-”</p>
<p>
  <b> PSSBBBTTTTT </b>
</p>
<p>Noya was the first to hear it.  A sizzling like sound.  A sound he knew all too well.</p>
<p>He spun around a second before the smoke appeared.  “Shit.”</p>
<p>Immediately, the adventurers who were in the middle guard were on alert.  That was the sound of a respawn.  And with how loud it was… it was a big respawn.</p>
<p>You turned to look where Noya was staring, eyes widening in amazement as a cloud of misty smoke began to swirl around the throne.</p>
<p>“Didn’t you just say they beat it two hours ago?!”  Noya looked like he was something in between furious and frantic, hands going back behind him to pull out twin daggers that were sheathed on his belt.</p>
<p>“Yeah!  That’s what Iwaizumi said!  He was left behind to tell us what was happening before he went to join them!”  Lev looked more panicked as he fumbled to unstrap the silver lance that was strapped to his back.  “What the fuck is going on?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know.”  Tanaka held his broadsword with both hands, taking a step in front of yourself and Kiyoko.  “But I don’t like it.”</p>
<p>It seemed like the other adventurers began to move into some sort of defensive position.  You didn’t know what was happening but from their reaction, it couldn’t be good.</p>
<p>The sizzling noise stopped and slowly but surely the mist began to dissipate.  Faster than you could comprehend, a hand slammed down from the mist, landing on the arm of the throne.  To your utter horror and amazement, the bone hand looked like it… like it was growing skin.</p>
<p>A huge figure rose from the mist, the white bone slowly growing a layer of skin.  It was so disgusting you couldn’t look away.  The muscle seemingly appeared from nowhere, wrapping itself around, huge pools of blood dripping from the newly grown flesh before being covered in a layer of skin.</p>
<p>“Shit.  Shit this is so bad.”  Tanaka looked around frantically, his gaze going from the door towards the opening you’d passed to come into the room.  People were frantically running towards that opening, screaming as they tried to escape.  “We’ve gotta retreat.  We can’t- we can’t-!”</p>
<p>As if the monster sensed his train of thought, a fleshy hand reached up before smashing the light crystal, knocking it to the side.  The mass flung from its place on the ceiling to embed itself right above the entrance to the floor.</p>
<p>You had seen death.  Anytime you wandered into the dungeon you’d seen it.  You’d <i> caused </i> it.  Seeing dungeon monsters die was of little consequence to you.  It was second nature to you.  You’d even seen human deaths.</p>
<p>But this.  This was different.  This wasn’t death.  It was a slaughter.</p>
<p>The wall above the entrance cracked and collapsed, falling on top of both the rear guard as well as the people trying to flee.  For a split second, you could almost see the moments right before a person was crushed to death.  And then it would speed up and the rock crashed against the ground, a pretty crimson puddle leaking out from beneath it.</p>
<p>You stumbled a little as Tanaka pushed you back, his face hard as his eyes looked around frantically.  “Noya.”  His voice was shaky, the grip on his sword so tight you could see his veins straining against his skin, “Go.  You have to go tell the vanguard.  We all can’t make it across to the door.”</p>
<p>“But!  I can’t leave you.  I can’t-!”  He was cut off as Tanaka swung around, a fist colliding with his jaw.</p>
<p>Just as quickly, Tanaka was grabbing Noya’s collar, hoisting him up.  “You have to go.  If you don’t, we’re all going to fucking die.  We’ll be fine for a bit.  But you have to go.  You’re the quickest.  Please.  You... you have to.”  His voice wavered a little at the end and Noya’s expression changed.</p>
<p>“Fine.”  Noya pulled himself away from Tanaka’s grasp, picking up his daggers that he’d dropped when he’d been stuck earlier.  He gave a hard glance at everyone, “Don’t you fucking die on me.”</p>
<p>And with that, the small rogue was darting away and across the space that lay between him and the door.  The raid boss seemed to notice, slowly turning its massive body to try and swat at him.</p>
<p>Tanaka, seemingly having a second to breathe turned to look at you and Kiyoko.  “Stay behind us at all times.”</p>
<p>You were trapped.  Tanaka was right.  There was no way that you could make it to the door like Noya had, and your only other exit was blocked.  This was bad.  Very bad.</p>
<p>The giant’s skin seemed to finally finish growing on its face.  The flesh grew over its once empty eye sockets, blood streaming down in red tears.  Its mouth fell open as it let out a disembodied roar.  It was a walking nightmare.</p>
<p>You covered your ears, your knees giving out as you collapsed to the floor.  The noise it was releasing shook you to your very core.  It also reminded you of something similar…. something you’d heard the night before.  Something unholy.  </p>
<p>You looked up in morbid fascination as the monster took a step forward, the health bars above its head filling up.  <b><i> Haygor the Undying.  Level 100 </i> </b></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>h̵͔̆͊͊3̴̧̰̪̟̲̥̠̞͇̍͊̑͒̂͊͆̄̕l̸̤̯̘͗́̓̊̾̾̿̃́̈́̚ͅl̵̦̫̠̫̙̥̠͍͓̙̗̿̐̌͆͂̇0̸̨̼̩̠̦̰̮̱̝͛̑̇̍͆͌̏̓̚ ̶̢̙̺̘͕͉̰͇̠̖͚̑̎̌̈́̉̌p̵̟̊r̶̠͇̤͗͆̍̇̊̕ͅi̶̡̭͓̮͙͇͚̖̪͇͎̝͛͗̈́͛͒̉̎͋͝͝͝n̵̤̟̜̂͊͛͂̃͂͐͛̔͝ͅͅɔ̴̡̛̳͈̮͋̽̀̂̀͝͠3̵̨̰͎͔̓̈́͑͐̽̔̈̔́̆͠Ƨ̷̢̮̤͗̔̓̄̕Ƨ̶̤̖̞̳̟͌̐͒̿̐̏̒͊</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Furtivatio:  A spell that increases stealth stat by 7, dexterity stat by 6 and athletic stat by 5.</p>
<p>Drillbe: A fuzzy orange puff that sheds a pollen.  The pollen typically causes allergic reactions.  The pollen can be used and collected to treat rashes on the surface.  Drilbes are mostly passive, but can sting if mishandled.</p>
<p>Haygor the Dead: The floor 20 raid boss.  Haygor is level thirty, a huge skeleton who uses a large bone saw as a weapon.  Once his health bars are brought to half, he will spawn weak level 5 skeleton minions.  While weak, they are vast in number and can easily overwhelm unprepared parties.  Potential drops include the Bone Sword of Haygor, Haygor's Skull, and Magical Bone Marrow.</p>
<p>Haygor the Undying:  Level 100.  ????????<br/>---<br/>Hello!  Thank you for all the kind comments.  It really makes me happy to read them ;o;</p>
<p>Please enjoy the start to the main part of the story!  I'm really excited that the dungeon exploration campaign has started.  As always, please feel free to leave comments or kudos.  It's what motivates me to write!  Enjoy~!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Judgement</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Humanity is inherently evil.  Everyone is born evil.  Their natural instincts are to survive, to do whatever it takes to preserve one's self, even if that means destroying others to do so.  While this may seem like a terribly depressing thought, it actually puts quite a bit of stock in humanity as a whole.  For the vast majority of humanity is good.  Which means they are fighting against their true nature and prevailing.</p><p>“Shit.”  You looked away from the monster and back to Tanaka, who stood between you and Haygor.  “Shitshitshitshit.”</p><p>His body was ridged, muscles constantly tightening and loosening as he tried to steady out his breathing.  You could tell he was terrified, yet here he was, standing in front of you.  He was literally shielding you with his life.  It had an even more profound impact on you as you actually didn’t know him.  Would he have done the same thing if you weren’t associated with his guild?</p><p>For some reason, you felt like he would.</p><p>“Well this fucking sucks.”  Lev, or at least that’s the name you’d head them call him, said as he adjusted his position as well.  “What the fuck is this shit?  I’ve never heard of such a high level monster spawning here.  Level one hundred isn’t supposed to happen until like, floors fifty plus right?”</p><p>“Yeah.  I’ve never seen one.”  Tanaka let out a shaky breath, his muscles finally seeming to settle on tensing as he held his sword vertically in front of his body.  You watched as his facial expression shifted, his gaze falling on yourself and Kiyoko.  As if realizing you were staring at him he gave a shaky smile, raising a hand to give you a thumbs up.  “H-hey, don’t worry.  We’ll take care of everything.”</p><p>You wondered how he had the strength to worry about others when there was no guarantee that he, himself would live.  People were really amazing.</p><p>“Lev, is it just you here?”</p><p>“Yeah.”  The freakishly tall lancer glanced over at the carnage that lay under the rocks before back to Tanaka, “Kuroo and Kenma are with the vanguard, Yaku is with the scouts, and then everyone else volunteered to stay with the rear since there weren’t enough people.”</p><p>Haygor began to stand and both men in front of you tensed, holding their weapons in a fighting stance.</p><p>“Well, guess it’s up to us.”  Tanaka glanced around, spotting various groups protecting what little they had left.  Obviously he would stay with his clerics, it only made sense.  Trying to rally together right now would end up being a death sentence.  They didn’t have-</p><p>“Move!” </p><p>It was Kiyoko that broke everyone out of their trance.</p><p>Before you could even try and stand, Haygor was hunching forward before taking off with a blast towards your group.  The impact from his foot leaving the ground cracked the earth, the ground shaking as he closed the distance.</p><p>Was this how you died?  Unable to do anything but sit there helplessly?</p><p>“I-”</p><p>
  <b> FWOOOM </b>
</p><p>Wind whipped around you, your hair flaring out from the impact.  It took a moment for your eyes to fully adjust so you could see what was happening, your mind was reeling to process everything.  A tall, bulking figure stood in front of Tanaka and Lev, a giant shield quivering under the weight of a huge black sword.  Behind him stood a tall blonde haired guy, his shoulder against the other guys back, supporting him.</p><p>“Hang in there Aone!”  The blonde one called, his body starting to slant sideways as he struggled to help support the weight. </p><p>A grunt left the one referred to as Aone, his muscles straining as a cracking sound began.</p><p>The cracking sound, you determined, was the wills of the sword and the shield colliding.  One of them would win out and judging by the size of the sword… it would be that one.</p><p>Haygor’s jaw seemed to unhinge as he tilted his head up, roaring up into the ceiling.  The pressure he was bearing down on the shield increased and Aone fell to a knee, a prominent crack forming in the middle of his shield as he held the sword back.</p><p>The blonde guy cursed, turning to glare at Tanaka and Lev.  “Counter!”</p><p>In an instant, the two of them were fanning out on either side of Aone and his shield, running at full speed towards Haygor.  You watched, both terrified and amazed.</p><p>Lev’s movements were fluid, his spear whirling around to stab at Haygor’s skin almost faster than the human eye could see.  Behind Tanaka’s swings was pure power, the steel embedding into flesh as it cut through, a crimson trail left in its wake.</p><p>The two of them barely came up to Haygor’s knee, but there they were, attacking best they could. </p><p>
  <b> CRRRRRKKKKKKK </b>
</p><p>Aone grunted again as the shield’s single crack split, branching out over the surface of it.  Its durability was definitely almost all used up. Which meant.</p><p>“Shit.”</p><p>In an instant, the shield cracked in a fractured rainbow of glass like shards.  Just as Haygor’s sword was about to pierce into Aone, the giant beast let out a howl as its body was pushed slightly to the left.  The slight displacement caused Haygor’s sword to land inches away from Aone’s body, the massive blade cutting into the earth with a seismic quake.</p><p>Both Aone and blonde guy scrambled back towards you, turning their attention to see what had caused the shift.</p><p>“That’s that one guy from Aoba right?  The berserker?”</p><p>Currently engaged in battle, with a jagged dagger slicing diagonally down Haygor’s chest as gravity pulled him downwards, was a rough looking guy.  He was bare chested, scars and marks littering his skin.  His movements were jerky and wild, almost as if he were moving purely on instinct.</p><p>He landed with a thump on the ground, Haygor stumbling back from the wound.  Tanaka and Lev took this opportunity to attack, both of them trying to render the raid boss imobile by focusing on his legs.  Much to your surprise, the berserker guy took off running at full speed towards Tanaka’s turned back, launching himself up in the air right behind him, a foot coming down on Tanaka’s shoulder as he used him as a springboard.</p><p>You didn’t really understand it, you figured he had to be using some sort of agility enhancement modifier, but there he was- up in the air at eye level with Haygor.  Raising his arms above his head, he slammed his dagger into Haygor’s cheek, ripping a large gash from the cheek bone to right about where the lower jaw bone started.  It was there that he stopped, hanging onto the hilt with one hand as his body swaying as Haygor reeled back a little.</p><p>“This isn’t good.”  Blonde guy appeared beside you, Kiyoko attending to the wounds that Aone had sustained by holding back such a powerful blow.</p><p>“What do you mean?”  You had been genuinely impressed at that guy's raw instinct to fight.  It looked like he was holding up against the raid boss. With Lev and Tanaka’s help, of course. </p><p>“Look at the health bar.”</p><p>You followed the guys finger upwards, eyes widening in surprise.  It had barely moved.  All of that and barely any damage had been inflicted.  What the hell, how was that even possible?</p><p>Your eyes flicked downwards as you watched Haygor’s inhuman speed once again, his arm swinging up to knock the berserker right in the side, his body literally flying across the room as it smashed against the far wall.  “But I don’t-”</p><p>“Shit, get down!”</p><p>Haygor’s fist aimed downwards, slamming into the ground.  The ground trembled as it broke apart, debris flying in every direction.</p><p>Blonde guy put his arm out, a large shield appearing out of thin air as he slammed the tip into the ground, effectively protecting the space behind him.</p><p>You were once again struck with the feeling of overwhelming despair.</p><p>d̸̟͉̜̔0̴̥̟͙͛̽͠͝ ̷̘̟͋͂͒͊͜s̷̮͇̒̇̍̌0̷̛̩̙͍̒ͅṃ̷͔͖̈́̒̚ͅt̶̩̩̮͐̅H̷̨͙̺͙̉i̵̦̙̋̈́͊Ñ̷̨̯͍̮͘g̷͈̗̼̊͜</p><p>“We just have to hold out until the vanguard gets here.”</p><p>You watched as Tanaka and Lev picked themselves up from off the ground, blood seeping from their open wounds as it stained their clothing.  Berserker guy came stumbling over next, his entire upper half swollen and bruised, blood gushing from multiple cuts and wounds scattered across his body.</p><p>So this is what it was actually like down in the dungeon?</p><p>“Run!”</p><p>Your head whipped to the side as you watched a group attempt to use yours as a distraction.  The small group took off running towards the door, terror on their face. </p><p>“Wait!  Don’t-!”  It was Tanaka, a hand out stretched as he tried to warn them.</p><p>Haygor’s eyeless face immediately turned towards the group.  Before anyone could do anything, a huge chunk of ground was being flung towards them.  It hit two of them, their bodies instantly crushed by the impact.  The others were either dazed, or trapped under broken chunks of earth that had split off from the original one. </p><p>həlp thəm.</p><p>Savə ţ̶̛h̶̤̗̅̚ȩ̸̤̈́m̷̡̛̚.</p><p>S̷͕̰͕̰̞̙̒̈́̄̃̂̑̐Aṿ̸̢̗͚̦͒̓ə tHə̴̨̮͈̤̱̾͊͐̊̔ͅm.</p><p>“P-please!”  A girl was currently being picked up by Haygor, her eyes wide with terror as she screamed.  “Please someone- anyone!”</p><p>“You bastard!”  Tanaka rushed forward to try and intercept them before she was too far off the ground.  He was easily knocked away, his body flung to the side before hitting the ground, rolling a few times before it came to a stop.</p><p>“Tanaka!”  Lev was instantly running to his side, shaking him desperately as he tried to wake him up.  “Get up!  You have to get up!”</p><p>“Please!”</p><p>“Someone…” your eyes fell on someone’s bloody face, their hand outstretched towards you.  Their lower half was crushed by some of the ground that had been sent flying earlier.  “Pl-e-s sa- save… me.”</p><p>“Tanaka!”</p><p>“Let me go!  It hurts!  AHHHH-”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>The world around you went silent, your vision fading in and out as you turned to look at the blurry figure of Haygor.</p><p>s̶a̸v̵e̸ ̵t̸h̸e̶m̸</p><p>
  <b> badum </b>
</p><p>Your heart beat filled your ears.</p><p>
  <b> badum </b>
</p><p>s̷̼̗̍ä̸̯͈͈v̸̡̯͇̅e̸͈͊̋ ̵̮̞̼̈̾͌t̷͍̜̖͘h̶̛̥e̵̙̗͂̽m̵͔̗̣̾ </p><p>
  <b> badum </b>
</p><p> </p><p>s̵̪̬̳̙̬̼̙̙͖͂̿͑̍̏ã̵̛̪̤̯̫͍͔̱̐͑͊͑̐̄̓͜v̴̨̤͍̬̻̥͆ͅe̶͚̰̲͔̔̍̈́̎̓̇͂̾̄͜͠͝ ̵̙͇̤͚̹͇̳͍̲͕̣̾̅̔́̾͠͝ͅͅṫ̸͔̼͇̜͉̰̬͚̝̬̺̱͙̹̪͈̻͗̀͂̾̈̒̆̆͆̅͋ḫ̷̨̳͕͓͔̙̗̳̰͆̋̐̆̿̚͝e̷̦̋̃̽̑̒̾̀̕m̴̧͓̝̼̭̲͍̹̏͋͆̇̐</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> badum </b>
</p><p>L̸̔̚͜͝ī̷̤b̷̖̒͆̑e̴̡͝r̸̭̖̻̅̅a̸̦̜͒ ̵͈̫͔͛͛t̵̠̅͝e̵͕̹̘͑͌ ̷͍̤͍̄͠e̵̪̘̅̎͜x̶̢̼͙͒̊ ̸̥͠͝ȋ̴̠͉̙̇ñ̸̡͔͊̆f̵̠̭͝ĕ̴̤̣̙̕r̴͍̎͌ņ̸͖̆ḭ̸̪͇̓̉̕s̶̠̾</p><p>“Heed my call.”  You began to stand slowly, a soft light starting to engulf your body.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing!  Stay ba...ck.”  Blonde guy shut his mouth as your mimic skill vanished in a flash of light. </p><p>You began to walk forward, your original appearance fully returning as you continued.  “For I am the one who holds this land, as it has been entrusted to me.”</p><p>Haygor took notice of you, head veering back as he let out a roar.  The girl slipped from his hand, with Lev managing to catch her right before she collided with the ground.  His full attention was on you, a black haze beginning to swirl around him. </p><p>“I am the judge, jury, and executioner.”  Haygor’s fist came down towards you and you flinched as it collided with a white, magical barrier that glimmered before you.  The barrier wavered in and out, but did not falter.  The black haze began to push against it now too, the feeling of rage and sorrow filling the air.  “I shall carry the burden of my people.  For this is the duty I have been given.  None shall escape my punishment!”</p><p>
  <b> shhiiiiiiiing </b>
</p><p>Raising your hand above your head, your eyes temporarily took on a gold hue, your body emanating a light that clashed against Haygor’s black haze that tried to break through. </p><p>The vanguard, who had just arrived through the door, watched in amazement as a huge sword of light formed above Haygor’s body. Some of the members were surprised when a certain black haired boy pushed his way forward, a hand outstretched towards you, “[Y/N] DON’T-!”  </p><p>“Divine judgement!”</p><p>You lowered your hand, the sword descending upon Haygor’s neck, sparks of light and darkness colliding.  Haygor let out a cry that shook the entire room before the sword cleanly sliced through his neck, silencing him.</p><p>The decapitated head of Haygor rolled to the ground, a pool of black blood spraying from the body as it slumped forward.</p><p>Silence.  No one moved a muscle. </p><p>Haygor’s body twitched once, twice, and then exploded in a shimmer of black ash.  From across the room they watched as you stumbled forward a little, your body swaying, before you fell to the ground.</p><p>What the hell had just happened?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> <i> Do you know where you are? </i></p>
  <p>
    <i> Do you know who you are? </i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i> Why have you come here? </i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i> Why do you struggle? </i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i> Why do you fight? </i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i> Where are you? </i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i> WhERe ArE yOU? </i>
  </p>
  <p>W̸̱̫̳̰͙̔̅̚͠H̵̯͆̆͗͝Ȩ̸̧̺̬͒̄͌͘͝R̶̢̧̧͕̹̆̎̇̐͑ͅẺ̵̹̺̾̎̈́ ̶̢̧̦͚̭̘͛͆̋͜ͅA̴̙̲͇̺̻̗̘͍̒̓̊͐̿̎͒͆̆ͅṚ̴̤̜̹͋͆̾̐̋E̶̼̽͆̾͒ ̷̼̘̳̫̑͒̾̃̂̑͝Y̷̡̭̫̩̗̍O̷̫͍̟̻͇̹͕̼͐̄̂͜U̷̲͋͒̋?<br/>
</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Divine judgement: ?????</p><p>----<br/>Hello!  So excited to get another chapter out!  //u\\  It's a bit shorter than the others because I was originally going to have this and the next combined, but when I sat down to write it was going to be A LOT.  So I decided to split it up and change it around a bit.  Meaning... when I said to someone that some stuff was going to be answered in this chapter it will now be the next one ;o; </p><p>Thank you everyone for the comments.  I really enjoy reading through them and it makes me really motivated to put out my best work.  I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.  I appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment and Kudo.  Thank you (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Bearer of the Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s dark.</p>
<p>
  <i> Was it worth it? </i>
</p>
<p>You can feel something ripping into you, pulling you apart from the inside out.  It hurts.</p>
<p>
  <i> Do you regret saving them? </i>
</p>
<p>You can hear screaming.  Painful and loud.  It feels like it’s going to burst your eardrums.</p>
<p>
  <i> What a waste. </i>
</p>
<p>“[Y/N]!”</p>
<p>Someone is calling your name, though you can barely hear it above the screaming.  It takes you a moment to process that it’s your screams.  You’re screaming.</p>
<p>It hurts.</p>
<p>Help me.</p>
<p>
  <i> This is your punishment for passing judgement. </i>
</p>
<p>Ithurtsithurtsithurts.</p>
<p>IT HURTS.</p>
<p>Your eyes fly open and you sit up, unable to breathe.  You’re vaguely aware that you’re in Kageyama’s arms, but you can’t process that right now.  Instead, you roll away from him, fingers digging into the earth as you writhe in pain.</p>
<p>Unable to hold back, you cough until you feel a stream of blood rise from inside you before splattering on the ground below you.  Tear prickle at your eyes as you try to breathe while simultaneously emptying your lungs of the blood mixed with bile.</p>
<p>Someone crouches beside you, their warm hand running up and down your back soothingly.</p>
<p>After some time you’re able to regulate your breathing, the pain subsiding to a tolerable amount.  You grit your teeth as your forehead collides with the ground, your chest heaving as you inhale and exhale.</p>
<p>“What did it take?”</p>
<p>You turn your head away from him, jaw clenching as you close your eyes.</p>
<p>“What did it take?!”  He’s grabbing your arm now, trying to pull you towards him.</p>
<p>“Yo man, let go!”  You can feel someone trying to tug him off of you, his fingers digging into your flesh in retaliation.</p>
<p>“Shut up!”  You can hear him smack then off of him.  He’s angry.  You know he’s angry.  “You don’t know anything!  [Y/N].  What.  Did.  It.  Take.”</p>
<p>It goes silent as you feel his fingers tighten around your arm again.  After a moment, you mutter something under your breath.  He’s unhappy at your lack of answer and you find yourself being pulled up off the ground from your fetal position, both hands gripping your arms as he holds you in a sitting up position.</p>
<p>Kageyama is angry.  But there’s also something else.  He looks scared and relieved and pissed all at the same time.  If you look close enough you can almost see a barely visible shine of water in the corner of one of his eyes.  Was he about to cry?  You can’t imagine him crying. </p>
<p>“[Y/N].”</p>
<p>You blankly look around, spotting a few familiar faces.  Bokuto is crouched beside you, presumably the one who’d rubbed your back and tried to pry Kageyama off of you.  Tendou and Ushijima are behind Kageyama, looking at you with unreadable expressions.  They’re rather bloody, you note.  Beside them is Kuroo and Daichi, along with Noya and the archer guy you’d met at the party.  You couldn’t remember his name, though.</p>
<p>“[Y/N].”  You can hear the desperation in his voice and your eyes focus back in on him.  He looks blurry.</p>
<p>Oh.  It’s because you’re crying.  When did you start crying?  You’re not even sure.</p>
<p>Your lower lip trembles and you bite the inside of your cheek, his jaw tightens at the sight.  Finally you close your eyes, letting out a soft murmur of “... my kidney.”  You’re not sure how you know, you just do. </p>
<p>His expression falls and he pulls you towards him, tucking your head under his chin as he holds you.  You can hear yourself crying, it’s almost an out of body experience.  Was Kageyama always this warm?</p>
<p>“Now, I know I’m not the smartest guy around, but can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”  Noya isn’t one to beat around the bush.  While the others are hesitant speaking because a girl is crying in front of them, after having coughed up a concerning amount of blood, he wants to know why Yachi wasn’t Yachi and why there was a fucking giant sword of light.</p>
<p>It’s silent for a moment and you feel Kageyama’s arms tighten around you.  You nod your head a little bit and you can hear him exhale. </p>
<p>“I don’t know how or<i> why </i> [Y/N] is here but I can at least explain part of it.  What you just saw is one of the three divine spells.  The divine spell of judgement.”</p>
<p>“Divine spell… but-”</p>
<p>“Yes.”  Kageyama cuts Daichi off, eyes cast downwards.  “A set of spells granted only to those within the royal bloodline of Lyre.”</p>
<p>It’s silent again and you sniff, your hand going down to hold your side.  Kageyama takes notice and shifts you around so you’re sideways in his arms, the side of your head resting right under his collarbone. </p>
<p>“The divine spells are powerful and are meant to protect our country.  Because of their power, a person can only use each spell one time.  But, there’s a cost with using them.  They take part of the user's life.  In this case, when she used her divine spell of judgement, she sacrificed her kidney to the gods in order to use their power.” </p>
<p>You don’t dare look up.  Instead your gaze is trained on your lap, your expression rather defeated.</p>
<p>“So, [Y/N]... isn’t just some adventurer.”  Kuroo is the one speaking this time, hand under his chin as he thinks.  “But, in fact, she’s the Princess of our country.”</p>
<p>“Yes.”  Kageyama takes the liberty of speaking for you and you’re quite relieved.  You don’t really have much fight in you at this point.  “[Y/N] is the sole heir to Lyre.”</p>
<p>“But isn’t the princess supposed to be like ten?”  Bokuto is still near you and you can feel his eyes on you.  “She doesn’t look ten.”</p>
<p>You suppose that you can’t make Kageyama talk for you forever.  You owe them an explanation.  It probably looks worse on you just sitting there silently.  Not becoming of the future ruler of the country at all.  Not that you really consider yourself worthy of that mantle in the first place. </p>
<p>“M-” your voice cracks and you cough, reaching up after to wipe off a bit of blood from the corner of your lip.  “My father kept my birth a secret because of the timing.  We were at war with Mrystiel over our Dungeon.”</p>
<p>You can understand why they’re suspicious.  A princess that no one had ever seen?  Using some mysterious power to defeat a raid boss that shouldn’t have existed?</p>
<p>Reaching shaky hands up you began to pull at the front of your clothing.  It took your weak muscles a few tries, but you finally managed to pull it open enough to show the skin above your heart.  Emblazoned there was the sigil of the royal family.  A sword pointed downwards, with a crown above its hilt, two large wings spread out on either side of its blade.</p>
<p>The sword represented power.  While the crown represented the royal family's right to rule and their duty as rulers.  And lastly, the wings represented their favor bestowed upon them by the gods.</p>
<p>The crown and the wings were a shimmering white color, while the sword was a faded red color- a symbol that you had used that divine spell.  Paid for in blood.</p>
<p>“My name is [Y/N].”  You wince a little, twisting your fingers in the material of your clothing to try and ground yourself, “And I am the princess of Lyre.”</p>
<p>It takes you some time but you explain that you had switched places with one of Karasuno’s clerics in order to gain access to the dungeon.  The members who had been around you the night before seem to realize that you had witnessed the murder of your own mother and looked away from you, Tendou especially.</p>
<p>Karasuno seems more relieved than anything that their cleric is safe above ground, having had a short sleeping spell cast on her while you stole her place.</p>
<p>“That was a terrible idea,” Kageyama had muttered, eyes narrowed in your direction.  “You didn’t think through that plan at all, did you?”</p>
<p>You hadn’t.  But desperate people did desperate things.</p>
<p>Most of the ones who had listened to you left shortly after to assess the damage.  Kageyama stayed near you, permission granted by his party leader as you were his childhood friend.  Bokuto also plopped down beside you, his hand resting on your forehead as he transferred mana to you.</p>
<p>While the divine spells took part of your life, they also drained you of your mana.</p>
<p>“Are you sure you can spare all this mana?”  Kageyama seemed wary of Bokuto, who only grinned at him in response.  </p>
<p>“Course I can.  All that magic stuff is beyond me.  I don’t really use it much so I don’t have any need for it.”  Your gaze slid over to him and he smiled in response, “Besides, I told [Y/N] here I was going to make her fall in love with me.  Can’t have her dying on me because I was stingy with resources.”</p>
<p>You laughed weakly, wincing as the action caused you to cough again, blood splattering against the hand covering your mouth.  You watched as Bokuto’s expression faltered, his fingers shifting around on your forehead.  He took notice of your eyes on him and he grinned again, though less enthusiastic as before. </p>
<p>In the end, as far as they could tell, there were eight dead, seven critically wounded, three with major but not life threatening wounds, two with minor wounds, and about twenty five missing.  The dungeon was imbued with powerful magic, which meant that using magic to try and clear the entrance would prove to be a difficult task.</p>
<p>Tendou walked by you a few times and whenever you’d make eye contact he’d swiftly look away, making sure to turn in the opposite direction.  You felt bad.  Was he mad because you’d left in the middle of the night only to show up here?  Or was he mad you’d sort of misled him on who you truly were?  You couldn’t be sure.</p>
<p>You passed in and out of consciousness a few times.  Your body trying to recover itself both mentally and physically.</p>
<p>When you regained consciousness for what seemed like the hundredth time, you were under a blanket, a large fire burning in front of you.  Instead of showing you were awake, you opted to lay with your eyes still closed, listening.</p>
<p>“We have no choice.”  It sounded like Daichi, his deep voice full of authority.  “Trying to clear the entrance could end up being fatal.”</p>
<p>“I agree.”  Archer guy.  What was his name again?  Oi… Oikawa?  “If a bonus spawn happens again, this time at a higher level, we’ll probably lose too many trying to protect the wounded.  Our clerics are… lacking, so to speak.”</p>
<p>“It’s hard to believe that something like that happened.”  Kuroo seemed deep in thought.  “But these swords stats don’t lie.  It says right here, Demon Sword of Haygor.  Its properties show this floor and it’s a level one hundred item.  Its rarity is off the charts.  I can’t figure out how to tell the spawn rate… if only we had a craftsman with us.”</p>
<p>Opening one eye you watched as Kuroo held the sword up, before offering it over to Ushijima.  The usually passive man seemed distressed as he took the hilt, staring at it pensively.</p>
<p>“You’re the only one with stats high enough to use it.”</p>
<p>Your gaze focused on the sword.  It almost seemed as if it was calling to you.  Mocking you.</p>
<p>
  <i> Where are you? </i>
</p>
<p>The air seemed thick, your throat tightening as the fire gleamed in the reflection of the dark metal of the blade.</p>
<p>
  <i> Where are you? </i>
</p>
<p>A leg suddenly blocked your view and you shifted your body to look at who was standing above you.</p>
<p>“Hey.”  It was Hinata Shouyou, beaming down at you.  He seemed tired, but his smile was as genuine as you remembered it. </p>
<p>You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding, watching as he crouched in front of you.  “Hi.”  Your throat felt dry and you wheezed.</p>
<p>Hinata quickly offered you his canteen and you gratefully took it, greedily drinking the water.  It soothed your sore throat, the sting almost refreshing.  Pain was good at this point.  It was proof that you were still alive.</p>
<p>“I wanted to tell you that what you did was really cool.”  He looked off in the distance, the fire casting a glow on his face as it threw shadows here and there.  “A lot of people died and got hurt… but it could have been much worse if you hadn’t done anything.”</p>
<p>Even if they were the vanguard, they hadn’t been prepared to fight such a creature.  Especially if they had needed to protect the wounded.</p>
<p>“Kageyama was really worried about you.”  You shifted awkwardly, glancing away from him.  “I only say that because… well, after hearing about the divine thingies or whatever… that’s kind of scary.  So I’ll tell you now, I’ll protect you so you don’t have to do it again.  I’m sure the others feel the same way.  They might just not be as good at expressing it.”</p>
<p>There was a commotion and you briefly heard shouts of ‘wife’ and ‘marry’. </p>
<p>Hinata rolled his eyes, “Well, except maybe Bokuto that is.”</p>
<p>You fell into a comfortable silence.  It felt… nice.  You had subconsciously been doubting yourself.  If you’d done it earlier… if you’d only reacted quicker… maybe things wouldn’t have turned out this way.  If only-</p>
<p>“You should eat.”</p>
<p>Both yourself and Hinata stiffened as the rather deep voice of Ushijima cut through.  He was towering behind Hinata, staring down at you.  You noted the hilt of the pitch black sword peeking out from over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Yeah.”  Hinata stood back up again, almost looking like a child next to Ushijima.  “I’ll be right back with something.  You watch her and try not to scare her.”</p>
<p>Before either of you could say anything, the excitable male was running off with a wave.  Ushijima, sensing it was probably awkward for you to be craning your neck up like that, kneeled down beside you.  Which… granted, was still intimating and awkward, but slightly less so.</p>
<p>“What I said earlier.”</p>
<p>You blinked, surprised at him initiating conversation.  “Earlier?”</p>
<p>He frowned and you winced a little.  “Back when you were leaving.  When I said to do what you must.  I hadn’t anticipated something like this.”</p>
<p>“If I’m being honest…. neither was I.”  Sure, you had thought that there would be unforeseen stuff in the dungeon.  Casualties on the lower floors too.  But not a fucking level one hundred raid boss that took out over half the campaign members.  You hadn't ever anticipated using the sacred spells either.  You hadn't thought it would be easy by any means but you didn’t think it would be this hard as well.  It was like everything was working against you.</p>
<p>The silence that ensued was not comfortable like the one with Hinata.  Instead you shied away from him.  Were you embarrassed or ashamed?  You weren’t really sure.</p>
<p>“So… what’s going to happen to me?”  You assumed there was some sort of punishment in store for you.  After all,  you’d stowed away on a very important mission and messed with one of Karasuno’s guild members.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”  Ushijima was always so straightforward.  You did appreciate that about him.</p>
<p>You changed a glance at him, biting your lip nervously, “What punishment am I going to recieve?  What’s the plan?  You know, that kind of stuff.”</p>
<p>Ushijima made eye contact with you for a brief moment before he looked away.  He seemed uncomfortable.  Which was strange considering he could probably strangle you with his pinky.  If anything you deserved to be the uncomfortable one!  “Well.”  He cleared his throat, turning back to look at you again.  “We talked it over and we can’t really… punish you.”</p>
<p>“Why is that?” </p>
<p>He seemed to grow more uncomfortable as he gestured towards yourself, trying to figure out how to go about saying what he wanted.</p>
<p>“What big, tall, and awkward is trying to say is you out rank us.”  Archer Oikawa popped out from behind Ushijima, a hand on his hip as he looked down at you.  “You seem to forget the hierarchy of things.  While, yes, you did do something bad, we can’t really do anything.”</p>
<p>Huh.  Okay.  You knew that you technically held higher authority over them… but you didn’t think that mattered.</p>
<p>“That is at least the official excuse we’re using.”  Oikawa gave you a shrug, now occupying himself by tugging at a string on his shirt.  “Truth is, we don’t really want to do anything to you.  I mean, you haven’t exactly had it easy these past thirty six hours or so.”  His dark orbs flicked down to catch your gaze and you stared back.  While his expression seemed friendly enough, there was more to it.  Calculating.  It was like he was trying to dissect everything about you.  His gaze was mesmerizing.</p>
<p>There was something about the way that archers looked at things, you noticed.  It was Kageyama first and foremost, and then you’d seen it with Akaashi and now finally with Oikawa.  It was like they were looking everywhere and anywhere at once, trying to direct the flow with their very hands. </p>
<p>“Besides, why would we punish someone who sacrificed part of their body to save people they didn’t owe anything to?  You can say it was your royal duty, your job and whatnot, but we both know that’s not really how it works.”  Oikawa didn’t really seem like he cared about formalities.  You didn’t dislike that about him.  “Not everyone can do something knowing what the outcome will be.”</p>
<p>Hinata returned a moment later, saying something under his breath about the ‘great archer’ while staring Oikawa down.  You didn’t really understand it, but you felt a little bit lighter whenever the orange haired male was around you.</p>
<p>The three adventurers left you to your thoughts after arguing amongst themselves over something or another.  You weren’t sure when it happened, but you ended up drifting off into a listless sleep again.</p>
<p>
  <i> Where are you? </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i> Was it worth it? </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i> Why have you come here? </i>
</p>
<p>“[Y/N].”</p>
<p>You could feel your consciousness slowly returning to you as someone called out to you.  You felt groggy, like you were being held down by some invisible force.  Like a hand was covering your eyes, keeping you from returning to the light.</p>
<p>“[Y/N].”</p>
<p>You tried to pull yourself from whatever was keeping you, but it felt like whatever had its clutches on you gripped down tighter.  It felt like you were drowning in a dark sea, hands grasping and pulling you down as you struggled to return to the surface. </p>
<p><i> Why are you here? </i> </p>
<p>“[Y/N]!”</p>
<p>Something jolted you awake and you sat up, eyes wide as you looked around.  Bokuto was crouched beside you, head cocked to the side as he appraised you.</p>
<p>You took a deep breath, letting the oxygen fill your lungs.  It had been a dream.  It had just felt a bit too real for your liking.  You could still feel the hand covering your eyes, the fingers digging into the flesh of your legs as the hands dragged you down into an abyss.</p>
<p>“What did you do to her, Bokuto?”</p>
<p>“W-whaaaat?  I didn’t do anything!”  Bokuto tilted his head back to squint at the black haired male who appeared behind him.  “I was just waking her up.”</p>
<p>Akaashi looked down at you, meeting your gaze and he hesitated before giving you a small incline of his head.  “Good morning, princess.”</p>
<p>“Please.”  You ran a shaky hand through your hair.  “Don’t call me that.  Treat me like you did before.”</p>
<p>You really didn’t want any special treatment.  That wasn’t why you had come down here.  That wasn’t who you were.  If anything, it made you feel awkward.</p>
<p>“Ignore him.  He’s a stick in the mud.”  Bokuto shifted around so his back was towards you, his arms back behind himself as he motioned for you to get on.  “We let you sleep as late as we could but it’s time to go.” </p>
<p>With some difficulty, you managed to scramble onto his back.  While you could probably walk by yourself, you were grateful for the lift.  Your body was still quite sore from the earlier ordeal.  That and you didn’t trust yourself not to eventually collapse, depending on the distance.</p>
<p>With Bokuto’s arms supporting under your thighs and your arms around his neck you took the time to look around.</p>
<p>There were blood stains splattered on the floor, now a dried and rusty red color.  The devastation was obvious, broken weapons and wood from broken boxes piled up off to your right.  The majority of your supplies were depleted, a vast amount having been in the rear guard.</p>
<p>“We’re going to floor twenty five.”  Boktuo said suddenly, gaining your attention.  “We’re going to drop off the wounded there.”  He paused, “and some of them want to leave you there.”</p>
<p>You frowned, eyes cast downwards.  You understood why they wanted to.  You were a liability in their eyes.  Not only that, but you were the only heir to their country.  Which meant if you were to die…</p>
<p>“The dungeon resets itself once a year.  On the sacred day of the sun.  It’s coming up in about four weeks.  By that time, the wounded should be in good shape to take down the floor twenty boss and leave.  Provided we aren’t back by that time.”  Akaashi magically appeared in step beside yourself and Bokuto, movements silent and lithe. </p>
<p>Campaigns down to the lowest floors of the dungeon could often take months.  It would be easier for them to get to floor forty nine because of their maps… but after that they were on their own.</p>
<p>The one wagon that had survived the carnage was packed with the wounded.  You spotted Tanaka and the berserker guy there, as well as faces you didn’t recognize.  Their defeated looks made your insides twist painfully and you gripped Bokuto a little harder.</p>
<p>He seemed to notice and sped up, ensuring that they were no longer in your vision.</p>
<p>“I am advocating against that though.”  He turned his head a little to look at you.  His usually carefree expression was replaced with something more serious.</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>Bokuto seemed to contemplate his answer for a moment.  Being this close to his face you could see his every facial expression, right down to the way his pupils dilated as he thought about lying.  His eyes then drifted to Akaashi who looked away, seemingly wanting nothing to do with this.</p>
<p>Bokuto’s grip on your thighs adjusted a little as he lowered his voice, his intense gaze finding your curious one, “Because I think this dungeon is out to kill you.”</p>
<p>You didn’t have to run a perception check to know he wasn’t lying to you. </p>
<p>
  <i> Where are you? </i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><b>End Expedition Day 1 </b> </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Divine Spell of Judgement; One of the three divine spells gifted to the bloodline of the royal family of Lyre.  A very powerful spell that will destroy any that the caster deems to be dangerous.  In order to use the spell, the caster must sacrifice a part of their life.  Great power comes at a price.</p>
<p>Demon Sword of Haygor; A drop from Haygor the undying.  A sword of pitch black, with extremely high stat barriers to use it.  Increases power, agility, resistance to light magic, resistance to toxins, and increases the users dark magic by 50.  Has the passive 'call to the dead' which deals extra damage to enemies with the [dead] attribute.</p>
<p>Sacred Day of the Sun; Once a year the sun will stay in the sky for 36 hours.  There is an old legend as to why this happens, but many have forgotten it.  It is now celebrated as a festival, and is considered a holiday in the Kingdom of Lyre.  The dungeon resets itself during this time, all [Normal] enemies respawning simultaneously, regardless of their respawn counter.  Because of this, the dungeon typically is not accessible.</p>
<p>--<br/>Hello everyone!  First of all, thank you to everyone who has left such wonderful comments.  It really makes me so happy to read them.  I'm so grateful to have your support!  Thank you to everyone who takes the time to comment or Kuddo!  It really motivates me to put out the best story I can for everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of The Dungeon!</p>
<p>Thank you＼(´▽｀*)(*´▽｀)/Thank you~</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Darkness Follows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><div class="center">
  <p><i> “It is not he who picks up his sword who is the hero.  It is the one willing to throw themselves into the thick of it to save the ones that they love.  Sacrifice is the greatest gift that one human can give another.  When one puts someone above themselves, that is when they can truly be considered a hero.” -  Ellion the First, the first King of Lyre. </i> </p>
</div>You weren’t sure if you were irritated because you were in pain or because you were mad at <br/>yourself or because everyone kept looking at you.  Maybe it was a combination of things.  Either way you couldn’t help the slightly annoyed edge to your voice when you finally spoke, “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”<p>If you had to use a word to describe Goshiki, it would probably be… a puppy.  When he was happy and excited it looked like he had a metaphorical tail he was wagging.  And when yelled at or startled the person who did it probably felt bad because of how distressed he looked.  Or at least, you did. </p><p>You let out a groan, “Sorry, I’m just tired.”</p><p>Goshiki had been trailing beside yourself and Bokuto for the last half hour or so.  He hadn’t said anything but had glanced over every few minutes like he wanted to say something.  “S-sorry… I was just wondering how you were doing.”</p><p>Now you <i> really </i> felt bad.</p><p>“Then just say it man.”  Bokuto shifted you around a little, his head turning to look at the Shiratorizawa guild member.  “It’s not like you can’t talk to her just ‘cause of some fancy title.  Sides, she’s going to marry a plebian like me so she’s pretty cool with that stuff, right?”</p><p>While Bokuto was brash and out there you did have to appreciate his ability to cheer you up without even trying.  You weren’t sure if he really meant all the things that he said, but it made you feel good nonetheless.</p><p>Goshiki’s back straightened as his lips opened slightly, looking at you and Bokuto before squinting.  “You aren’t really… are you?”</p><p>“Wow, way to immediately not believe it.  I’m not that bad of a husband choice you know.”</p><p>You stifled a giggle, squeezing your arms around him a little tighter.  “Of course.  You’re my number one choice.”</p><p>Akaashi let out a sigh from your other side, “Prepare to never hear the end of it now that he’s gotten affirmation.”</p><p>Bokuto flung his arm out at the black haired archer, Akaashi easily side stepping it as he rose an eyebrow challengingly.</p><p>“Why you-”</p><p>“What was it like?”  Goshiki and Bokuto had spoken at the same time.  Bokuto immediately cut himself off as he craned his neck around to look back over at him.  “Like… losing part of your insides.”</p><p>The three men were silent as you mulled over the question.  They were probably curious too.  After all, magic could do a lot of things but there were limits to it.  For example, a cleric couldn’t make someone’s arm reattach or heal someone of their blindness.  The thought of having your kidney ripped from your body was strange, even to you who knew it was a possibility.</p><p>After a few moments you let out a little hum.  “It’s hard to describe.  It hurt a lot when it happened.  Almost like someone just reached into my body and started pulling on it, trying to get it to come out.  But now it feels… it almost feels like I never had one to begin with.  My body is sore and it hurts from the experience of it, but it’s almost like it was never there.  My body is just sustaining itself like it always has.”</p><p>The power of the divine was strange.  As a child you’d learned a lot about it and were warned to only use it in dire circumstances.  There was a lot that was unknown about the powers blessed to your family.</p><p>It had been hundreds of years since your bloodline had first begun their rule.  The first King of Lyre was known for his heroic feats against a great evil that had threatened the land.  It was a tale told all throughout the kingdom.  He defeated the evil and the gods bestowed upon him the right to rule as well as some of their powers.  He was known as a great hero and they all lived happily ever after.</p><p>But what the tale told throughout your kingdom didn’t include was some of his personal thoughts.  A lot of his writings that were left had been destroyed throughout time.  But there had been one word that had survived, not made public.</p><p>
  <b> Curse. </b>
</p><p>He’d called something a curse.  Time had erased many things of the past but there had always been that underlying word in your family.  Almost like a shadow that never fully disappeared, following you without ever doing anything.</p><p>Perhaps he had been referring to the fact you had to sacrifice parts of yourself to use the divine power.  Or perhaps it was because your bloodline was forced to rule over the kingdom.  You weren’t sure and had honestly never given it much thought.</p><p>Though.</p><p>That voice in your head.  The dark things pulling you down into the abyss.  Could that have been what he was referring to?</p><p>“Shit.”</p><p>You were pulled out of your musing as Bokuto came to a jarring halt before hopping backwards a few paces.</p><p>You blinked and peeked over his shoulder, spotting what had caused him distress.  A large black hole was forming where you’d just been, the same wisps of dark mist that Haygor had swirling around it.  It was a spawn, but it wasn’t a normal spawn.</p><p>“What floor are we on?”  Bokuto was sort of fumbling around as he tried to both hold you and a dagger in case things got dicey.</p><p>“Twenty four.”  Akaashi answered easily, two fingers nocking his arrow as he took aim towards the black pool.  “We bypassed twenty three by going through the cave earlier.  The new vanguard took everything out since it is the fastest route.”</p><p>A black hand shot through the hole, slapping itself on the ground as claws dug into the earth.  A sickeningly familiar black goo was oozing off of its twisted arm, staining the ground beneath it an oily black color.</p><p>More arms and claws began to emerge, finding purchase on the ground as they began to drag themselves out of the pit.</p><p>As one of the creatures, faceless but humanoide clawed its way out, an arrow embedded itself in its forehead before exploding into a burst of flame.  The creature faltered in its movements for a moment before continuing to pull itself up, crawling along the ground on its stomach.</p><p>“Immune to fire magic,” Akaashi ‘tsked’ as he landed beside you.  “Damn.”</p><p>“Don’t these bastards only show up on floor forty one?”  Bokuto jerked his head towards Goshiki who nodded, pulling his sword from its sheath.  “You guys have been there recently.  Remember these fellas?  It’s been a hot minute since we’ve been that deep”</p><p>“We call them the hoard.”  Goshiki took a defensive step in front of you and Bokuto, his body shifting as he leveled his sword, the tip pointed at the creatures.  “They aren’t fast or aggressive like minators, but they come in numbers. They’re immune to different affinities of magic, fire being one of them.”</p><p>Magic in its most basic form can be attributed to six affinities; water, fire, earth, air, dark, and light.  Most people are attune to one, mages being attune to two or three.  The most common affinity is fire while the most rare is light.</p><p>“My affinity is fire,” Akaashi said plainly, seemingly annoyed at the fact that he wouldn’t be able to boost his arrows with his fire magic.</p><p>“I’m wind but I fucking suck at magic so…” Bokuto gave a little shrug.</p><p>Goshiki frowned a little, his gaze meeting yours briefly before he turned his attention back to the hoard.  He could hear the sound of fighting both ahead and behind him.  Meaning that there were more of the spawns happening to their comrades.  Floor twenty four consisted of a rocky labyrinth of tunnels.  The tunnels themselves were lit with magic imbued in the stones and the ‘caves’ were parts of the tunnels that had no magic and thus made sections of them dark.</p><p>It was good that they were outside of the cave but bad because they had little room to maneuver.</p><p>“Okay.  Here’s the plan.”  Bokuto hefted you up a little, glancing over his shoulder at the group fighting behind him.  “We defeat these goo fuckers and protect [Y/N] then hightail our asses to floor twenty five with the wounded.”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>The three of them nodded before, without any sort of tactical planning, backing away from one another. </p><p>Akaashi was on your flank, letting out arrow after arrow.  While they didn’t take damage from his fire, the physical damage eventually wore down their HP bars enough that they died.  Goshiki stood in front, cutting down any of them that flung themselves towards your small group.  One of them literally leapt at Goshiki, his sword cleanly cutting it down the middle as the black goo splattered all over the walls, himself, and Bokuto.  You got a smudge on your cheek but Bokuto did a decent job of shielding you from it.</p><p>The strange thing about these creatures was that they didn’t disappear in a poof of black ash.  Instead they seemed to melt into the ground, leaving the black, oily looking stain behind.</p><p>One of them was crawling on its stomach, its hand reaching up towards you.  For some reason you were fascinated, unable to look away.  It was so disgusting and inhuman, yet you felt pity towards them.</p><p><b> c̷̯̍a̶̧̖̘̮̮͠n̸̻̠͖̮͆̉͝ ̸̧̘̙̰̩̏̐ỵ̵̡̌̚o̶̧̠̝̥̞̦̾͝͝u̵̢̢̼͓͓̹͂̿ ̸̢̨͇̩͑͝ŝ̶͚̄͝a̸͚̼̍̈̎͐͝v̶̘͕͓̉̊͐͛̈͠ę̶̼̭̤̲͐ ̴̨͎͙͉͇̒͑t̸̮̼̳͓̩͛́̓̐͘͝h̸͖̞̳͋̈́͠ë̵̦̩̭̩́̕m̴̼̫̥̬̾̉?̶̠̺̜̫̃͝͝ </b> </p><p>Goshiki’s sword came slamming down, severing the upper half of its body.  It was almost in slow motion that you saw the hand fall towards the ground, colliding with it before melting away.  For the briefest of moments you could almost swear their finger was pointed at you.</p><p>“Shit!”</p><p>It was Akaashi from behind you.  Your head swiveled to make eye contact, your lips parting in slow motion as a pitch black hand wrapped around your neck from the side.  All at once everything sped up and you were violently pulled off of Bokuto’s back, a pained gasp leaving your lips as the side of your body collided with the ground.</p><p>“Where the fuck did it come from?”</p><p>“I have no idea!”</p><p>You desperately clawed at the arm that was connected to the hand that was crushing your windpipe.  It was the feeling all over again, though this time your adrenaline wasn’t enough to save you.</p><p>
  <i> It hurts. </i>
</p><p>Your heels dug into the ground as you tried desperately to get away.  The black mass only pressed further into you, the lifeless cesspools where its eyes would be seemingly staring into your soul.</p><p>You could hear a commotion around you but their words slowly faded away, replaced instead with the deafening sound of your heartbeat.  It was so loud you felt like your eardrums might burst.</p><p>
  <i> It hurts.  Ithurtsithurtsithurts. </i>
</p><p>Your vision began to blur as your eyes rolled into the back of your head, your consciousness escaping you.  Your body was too heavy to lift anymore and your arms fell lifelessly at your side. </p><p>w̵̤̯̉̒͆ê̵̞̦͓̪͈̘̏̆͐͘'̸̹̗͊̾̍̕͜ͅṙ̷̼̮̙̔̒̎͛̄ę̵̭͕̜̺̝̙͒̄͑̅ ̴͓̏̎s̷̜͈̱̘̬̑͜ǫ̸̢͉̣̤̳͊͐̍̇͒͌̉͜ ̵̠̮͙͓̖̑ͅc̵̦̰̦̜̦̍͠ľ̶̡̠̦͕̜̈̿̔̑͌̓o̶̬̝̘̘̮̫̾̐̓͜s̴̰̲͇̰͌̈́̓̇͑é̶̟͖̑̔</p><p><i> Help. </i>  You didn’t want to die.</p><p>c̸̨͕̯̩̟͔̏̽ͅa̸̢̛̿̓n̵̪̲̲̮̞̈́̏́̚͘͜ͅ ̵̛͕͇̥̼̿͒̌͘͠ͅy̸̢̭͙͇̯͓̦̔͊͋͐o̶͈̜̱͋̇̓̿͊̽͠ṷ̵͑͋̈́̿ ̶̙̗̃͐͋̂͝f̵̛̤͎̦̫̻̭̒̕͝é̶͍͈̉̊̽̀͛ḛ̸̛̛̘͎͔̫̗̦̓͌̓̅ľ̶̲̫̯̦͍̘͂̂ͅ ̶̮̫̥͂̆̐͊̃̅i̷̻͙̟͍̍̿͌̆̎͘t̴̗̝̮̬͉̱̭͂̉?̸̞̪͔̖̪͉̲̋̒̃͗͠</p><p><i> Help me. </i>  It hurt. </p><p>t̷͚̦̉̅h̴͕̋e̴̗͒ ̵̥̺̑t̵̯̣̉į̸̬͊̆m̸̘͘͜ė̵̥̦͠ ̷͍̓͘i̷̲̠̅̕ș̶͙̌̑ ̸̼͐n̵͉̉e̷̡̛̍a̷̗̋͜r̸̢̠͐</p><p><i> I’m sorry.  I’m sorry.  I’m sorrysorrysorrysorry. </i>  </p><p> </p><p>i̶̧̪̮͙͔̥̰̯̩͙̲̥̰̒͐͌̒͊̆̉̋̎̎͐͆̕̚͜͜͝͠t̷̲̙̖̘̘͚̮̏̒̋̃̇́̽̈́̓͐͆͝͝ͅ'̴̛̰̟̬̖͓̱͇̌͆͊͝s̵̭̦̱̻̭̘̜͘ͅ ̵̧̻̜͈͕̪̳͎̳͇̤͖̞̲͊͊̐̄̕̕͜͝t̴̥̝̞̞͚͓̝̤̽̿̉͑̈́o̴̡̖̪̦̟̖̔͂̎̆͜ő̶̢̙̜̪̺̼͍̤͔̼͚̯̗̣̤͔͉̫̈ ̶̧̡̧̡̛͎̗̱̦̹̖̻͉̝̘̺͎̏͊̌̅̈́̊͋̿̀̿̃͌͜͜͝͠͠͝ͅl̸͚͔̈̊̔͌́̔̐̀̂̽̽̑͋̎͗̕͘̚ã̷͉͈͔̝̞̳̎̈́͑̇̀̊̕͝t̸̰̠̍̄̆̐̿̅͗̄̋̌̍̈͠e̸͚̭̭̟͌͗̓̍̓̐͛͑̑̔̑̍͜͜͠͝͝</p><p> </p><p>
  <i> I’m sorry. </i>
</p><p>g̴̟͔̼͔̖̼̒̉o̷͍̊͐o̴̗̜͖͋d̶̳͇͋́̂̾b̶̢̬̟̯̆̓̆͘͜ͅẙ̶̺̚e̷̡͕͉̹͂̃̀̓͝</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yo what's up!  It's ya girl.</p><p>I didn't have a muse for Haikyuu because my roleplay partner didn't want to do HQ anymore so I sort of got out of touch with it.  Recently I have gotten back into it, so here I am!  Woo!  Many ideas to lay out, hopefully I can keep on that fantasy volleyball player train because boy, I have the end already in mind and I'm absolutely stoked to get there.  It's just... the getting there eue.</p><p>As always, please leave any comments, kudos, or whatever!  The ones I saw recently made me get my ass back to writing because I felt bad for leaving it off like that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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